A train traveling through eastern Tennesee derailed and a tank car filled with toxic liquid acrylonitrile spilled and caught fire prompting an evacuation of 5,000 nearby residents. Liquid acrylonitrile is used in making plastics and when it burns its fumes contain cyanide. 52 people were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Smoke subsides after hazardous rail spill in Tennessee; thousands evacuated from nearby area
By STEVE MEGARGEE and JOHNNY CLARK
MARYVILLE, Tenn. — A CSX train car carrying hazardous material derailed and caught fire in the middle of the night in eastern Tennessee, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people and sending dozens to the hospital with respiratory issues and nausea.
The fire was still burning around noon Thursday, and officials said firefighters had been unable to get close to the burning car because of the heat. Blount County Mayor Ed Mitchell said there were also concerns that the fumes contained cyanide, a byproduct of burning the chemical acrylonitrile, which was leaking from the train car. The smoke had stopped by 6 p.m., however, Mitchell said.
About 5,000 people in the area were being evacuated, along with several businesses.
"You could smell it in the air," Parrott said. "I had a headache, I was feeling nauseated and lightheaded, all the symptoms."
This is the kind of accident many local fire departments dread. Not to mention people who live near busy railroad tracks.