Train carrying oil derails, catches fire in Canada

Officials in Canada said a derailed freight train carrying crude oil and propane continued to burn today morning, while they prepared to launch aerial surveillance and dozens of nearby residents remained evacuated from their homes.

There were no reports of deaths.

"The biggest concern is the propane cars," the fire chief of the nearby community of Plaster Rock, Tim Corbin, said today morning, according to CBC News. "That's our biggest concern because if they happen to explode, we're looking at major damage."

The derailment late yesterday in a sparsely populated region of New Brunswick again raised concerns about the increasing use of rail to transport oil throughout North America.

In July, 47 people were killed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, when a train carrying crude oil derailed. Canadian National Railway spokesman Jim Feeny said crews will use a helicopter to determine the source and extent of the fire. Both he and Marc Belliveau, a disaster management associate with the Red Cross, confirmed that it was still burning.

Feeny said it appears that 15 cars and one locomotive derailed, but he said it was not yet clear what caused it. The train consisted of 122 cars and four locomotives. Sharon DeWitt, emergency measures coordinator for Plaster Rock, said it was unclear whether anyone was hurt.

An evacuation of about 50 to 60 people within a two-kilometre (1.24-mile) radius of the fire remained in effect.

A spokeswoman for Ambulance New Brunswick said no casualties were transported from the site.

Feeny said the regularly scheduled freight train ran into trouble around 7 p.M. About 150 kilometres (93 miles) northwest of Fredericton in northwest New Brunswick.

DeWitt said the train left the tracks about five kilometres (3 miles) from the village in a wooded area. She said there is one road near the site, which includes a number of homes.

The train's engineer and conductor, the only people on the train, were not hurt, Feeny said. The conductor and engineer have provided statements, but he would not give details. A series of recent derailments in North America have worried both officials and residents close to rail lines.

On December 30, an oil train derailed and exploded in North Dakota, causing the evacuation of a nearby town but no injuries.