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Rockslide causes CSX train derailment that injures 3, spills ‘unknown quantity’ of fuel into West Virginia river

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Social Links for Katherine Donlevy
Published March 8, 2023, 10:17 p.m. ET

Three people were injured and an unknown amount of oil was spilled into a West Virginia river Wednesday when a rockslide sent a freight train into a fiery derailment.

All four locomotives and 22 empty cars of the 109-car train hit a massive boulder lodged in the track just before 5 a.m. near the New River in Sandstone, a remote area inside the New River National Park and Preserve, CSX Transportation said in a statement.

The crash caused a massive pile-up, with several of the cars running off the tracks and onto the riverbed.

Smoke fills the sky after an empty CSX coal train hit a rockslide along tracks causing a fiery derailment, Wednesday, March 8, 2023
A 109-car train toppled into West Virginia’s New River after colliding with a boulder. AP

The only three passengers on board — the conductor, an engineer and an engineer trainee — were inside the lead locomotive at the time of the crash. They are being evaluated and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to CSX.

At least one locomotive and one fuel tank plunged into the New River, the West Virginia Emergency Management Division said.

A small portion of the New River caught on fire where diesel fuel and oil had seeped out of a crashed locomotive in the waterway. CSX allowed the fire to burn out on its own, a spokesperson said.

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Smoke fills the sky after an empty CSX coal train hit a rockslide along tracks causing a fiery derailment on Wednesday, March 8, 2023.
The only three passengers on board are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.AP
Smoke fills the sky after an empty CSX coal train hit a rockslide along tracks causing a fiery derailment on Wednesday, March 8, 2023.
The train was not carrying hazardous materials, CSX stated.AP
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Smoke fills the sky after an empty CSX coal train hit a rockslide along tracks causing a fiery derailment on Wednesday, March 8, 2023
At least one locomotive and one fuel tank plunged into the New River in West Virginia Wednesday. AP
Smoke fills the sky after an empty CSX coal train hit a rockslide along tracks causing a fiery derailment on Wednesday, March 8, 2023.
CSX is unsure how much fuel and oil were spilled into the river.AP
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CSX said an “unknown quantity” of fuel and oil was spilled into the river. Officials reported that enough fuel from the wreckage was visible in the waters.

The company stated the cars were not carrying hazardous materials. Evacuations were not ordered of nearby homes.

Local and state agencies are working to contain the fuel spillage, but CSX will be responsible for the cleanup.

Smoke fills the sky after an empty CSX coal train hit a rockslide along tracks causing a fiery derailment.
A small portion of the New River caught on fire where diesel fuel and oil had spilled. AP

The derailment comes just about a month after a Norfolk Southern crashed near East Palestine, Ohio, a tragedy that has contaminated 1.1 million gallons of water and 15,000 pounds of soil.

The company has since had two other derailments — one carrying hazardous materials derailed in Detroit just days after the East Palestine crash.

Last week, Springfield, Ohio, residents — roughly 300 miles from East Palestine — were ordered to shelter in place when a 212-car train toppled off the tracks.

With Post Wires