© Stacey MinkHeavy rains cause a landslide in Baltimore, Maryland.
Ian Brennan, a spokesman for the Baltimore Fire Department, said no injuries were reported.
One lane of the East 26th Street between North Charles and North St. Paul streets collapsed about 4 p.m. and slid down an embankment leading to the tracks below. The cause of the collapse was unclear, but it came on a day that the region was experiencing heavy rain storms.
Several streets were closed late Wednesday afternoon. St. Paul and Charles are major thoroughfares that are generally crowded during both the morning and evening commutes. The neighborhood is largely residential row houses. Traffic was reported to be snarled in the area of the collapse and downtown.
Brennan said no houses were damaged but fire officials said many residents living along East 26th Street were ordered to leave until building inspectors can assess their properties.
A photograph in the Baltimore Sun shows a wide area of destruction in what appears to have been a landslide. The railroad tracks are covered with water, dirt and six cars that went down the embankment. Baltimore officials said CSX has suspended rail service through the city.
A spokesman for CSX did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Reader Comments
Looks like a nice river channel, natural or man-made, it seems to have gotten the job done, too bad no one was informed of the unintended results... sort of like Fed Policy or inviting NATO or the World Bank/IMF into your country and then seeing the squeeze they put on your economy... always in the name of setting it free. Too bad they always save the pain for the little people and the gain for themselves. So, following this analogy, perhaps it is a long delayed jobs program just now about to bear fruit as the mess needs to be cleaned up?