UPDATE: Thursday, Mar 30, 2023 · 6:44:18 PM +00:00 · FlannelGuy
From Minnesota Public Radio:
Updated 1 p.m.
A train derailment sent 22 cars carrying ethanol and corn syrup off the tracks early Thursday morning in western Minnesota, leading authorities to evacuate Raymond, a town of about 900 people some 90 miles west of the Twin Cities.
No injuries were reported. Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad officials said it will take several days to clean up the site, including burning off the ethanol. Local officials said the town was safe. By noon, residents were being allowed to return home.
“We don’t know a lot at this point. We are working with the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) to get their go-ahead and begin to clean up and remediate and put out the fires,” BNSF CEO Katie Farmer told reporters during a midmorning briefing with Gov. Tim Walz and local officials in nearby Prinsburg, Minn.
The residents of the small town of Raymond, Minnesota (pop 754) were jolted awake at 1:00 a.m. today (Thursday) by the sounds of derailing tanker cars from a BNSF train.
The derailment forced the evacuation of many residents, who had to relocate to a nearby (as in several miles away) community overnight. The crash also closed a state highway that is a major thoroughfare for the region.
The tankers were carrying ethanol and corn syrup.
Minnesota Public Radio has thorough coverage of the incident.
Other coverage can be found at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and KARE-11 news.
This article from National Public Radio gives good context to how many derailments have occurred this year and in previous years. I was once told that “if planes fell from the sky as often as trains leave the tracks, a national emergency would be declared”.