© MELISSA SMITH / AP
In this photo provided by Melissa Smith, a train fire is seen from her farm in East Palestine, Ohio, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. A train derailment and resulting large fire prompted an evacuation order in the Ohio village near the Pennsylvania state line on Friday night, covering the area in billows of smoke lit orange by the flames below.
About 50 cars derailed in East Palestine as a train was carrying a variety of freight from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, rail operator Norfolk Southern said in a statement Saturday. There was no immediate information about what caused the derailment. No injuries were reported.
In a press conference on Saturday, the National Transportation Safety Board said investigators have not yet been able to enter the accident site due to active fire and hazardous materials. First responders found evidence of one of the train cars releasing vinyl chloride, NTSB member Michael Graham said at the press conference.
Vinyl chloride is used to make the polyvinyl chloride hard plastic resin used in a variety of plastic products, including pipes, wires and packaging materials. Vinyl chloride is associated with an increased risk of a rare form of liver cancer and other cancers, according to the federal government's National Cancer Institute. There were other hazardous materials on the trains that still needed to be identified, said the NTSB. Ruben Payan, who has been at the NTSB for 25 years, will lead the investigation.
Comment: Interestingly, another tweet purporting to show a view of the smoke trail has been deleted. Why would that happen?