“Firefighters from Raymond and several surrounding towns attended the scene where several of the derailed tank cars had caught fire,” Kandiyohi County Sheriff Eric Tollefson said in a statement. These cars were carrying “one form of ethanol,” and others were carrying corn syrup.
Three derailments per day
An evacuation order has been issued for people residing approximately half a mile from the derailment area and travel to the town of Raymond is discouraged, the statement added. No deaths or injuries are to be deplored, according to the Minister of Transport Pete Buttigieg, who indicated in a tweet that he was following the situation “closely”.
This accident comes two months following the derailment of another freight train in East Palestine, Ohio, which caused a huge fire and the evacuation of hundreds of people. This train was carrying, among other things, vinyl chloride, a carcinogenic and highly flammable chemical used in the manufacture of plastic.
The reaction of the authorities, who had carried out “controlled” releases of vinyl chloride to avoid a possible explosion, releasing toxic fumes, had been widely criticized, the inhabitants reporting suffering from nausea and headaches in particular. An investigation is still ongoing.
