Breaking: US freight train derails!
(Shippers, freight agents, beware of cargo delays)
On April 26th at noon local time, in the vicinity of the Arizona-New Mexico border region in the United States, a freight train carrying fuel derailed and caught fire, forcing the closure of a nearby interstate highway. There have been no reports of casualties thus far.
The freight train belongs to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) and is reported to have been carrying propane and gasoline. Ten cars of the train derailed, with six cars catching fire and burning for several hours. A spokesperson for BNSF stated that company personnel are on site cleaning up the wreckage, and the cause of the derailment is under investigation.
As a precautionary measure, residents near the incident site and a nearby truck stop were evacuated.
The New Mexico State Police and the Arizona Department of Public Safety announced the closure of both directions of Interstate 40 in the area. This measure resulted in a traffic backlog of approximately 20 kilometers on the highway, with increased traffic volumes on nearby interstates as well.
The derailment also led to the cancellation of some passenger train services by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), including routes from Los Angeles to Albuquerque, New Mexico.