Illinois Train Crash Kills 2; Evacuees Return to Homes

The threat of a toxic chemical release at a three-train wreck and fire eased Saturday, and most of the evacuees were allowed to return home.

The Friday night collision killed at least two workers, and a third was missing and presumed dead, officials said. Another of the six workers involved was slightly injured.

About 30 of the 100 homes ordered evacuated remained sealed off as crews waited for a fire propelled by leaking diesel fuel to burn itself out, said State Police Sgt. Mark Doris.

Officials believed two of the trains were westbound, both headed to St. Louis, and that one rear-ended the other on a Conrail Inc. track one mile west of this south-central Illinois town.

The rear-most cars of the first train then crashed onto an adjacent track and into the path of an eastbound train headed from St. Louis to Pittsburgh, Pa.

State police said 53 cars derailed, and 40 cars caught fire.

“You heard a rumble, then there was a second ‘ka-boom.’ There was a flash, then it lit up the sky,” said Mike Wilson, who lives nearby.

About 100 homes within a two-mile radius of the crash site were evacuated for more than 12 hours because the trains carried oil, plastics and hazardous chemicals, Conrail spokesman Bob Libkind said Saturday. He did not know what chemicals were aboard.

“We now don’t feel those are going to be a danger,” he said by late afternoon.

Libkind said the cause of the accident was not yet clear. Company and federal officials were investigating.