(The Associated Press circulated the following article on February 22.)
GOSHEN, Ind. — An eastbound Norfolk Southern train derailed Wednesday and struck the side of a westbound train, causing diesel fuel to leak from the locomotives in northern Indiana, authorities said.
The Elkhart County hazardous material team managed to contain the diesel fuel, South Bend television station WSBT reported.
“There’s a concern with the trenches that we are digging to get the product away from the drains and the river,” Assistant Fire Chief Jim Ramer told WSBT. “We should be fine; to my knowledge no product has reached the river.”
Rudy Husband, a Norfolk Southern spokesman, said none of the railroad cars were leaking any hazardous materials. WSBT reported the trains were not carrying any hazardous cargo.
Fourteen train cars were derailed in the accident about 12:30 p.m. near the waste water treatment plant in Goshen, 25 miles southeast of South Bend. The cause wasn’t immediately known, Husband said.
One person injured in the collision was taken to a hospital.