Feds investigating freight train derailment, tank car fire in PA

Federal investigators are being sent to probe a freight train derailment and tank car fire that occurred in a small Pennsylvania town early Wednesday morning.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that three investigators will arrive on the scene in Hyndman, Pa., on Wednesday, with two more arriving Thursday and one arriving Friday.

A CSX freight train carrying hazardous materials was en route to Chicago from Selkirk, New York, when it partially derailed about 100 miles outside of Pittsburgh.

{mosads}A total of 32 cars derailed from the tracks, including one containing liquefied petroleum gas and another containing molten sulfur, which leaked and caught on fire, according to the Associated Press. The derailed cars also struck a residential garage.

No injuries have been reported, but emergency responders evacuated all the homes within a half-mile radius of the scene. Some of the train cars were still burning hours after the derailment, according to the AP.

It’s unclear what caused the derailment, but federal investigators on the site will issue a report determining the cause and offering recommendations for the future.