© Reuters / Jason CohnEmergency personnel examine the wreckage of a train derailment near Vandergrift, Pennsylvania February 13, 2014.
A 120-car train making its way across Pennsylvania derailed Thursday morning, spilling thousands of gallons of oil and alarming observers who have called for stricter safety standards on trains hauling hazardous material.
The train is owned by the New Jersey-based Norfolk Southern Corp -- company officials told Reuters that 21 tank cars went off the tracks at a turn near the Kiskiminetas River in Vandergrift, a small town in western Pennsylvania.
Nineteen of the cars contained crude oil while the other two held liquefied petroleum gas. Three of the 19 cars spilled as a result of the crash. Company officials maintained that the leaks were plugged but refused to say how many gallons of oil had spilled. Sources told the local
WTAE-TV that an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 gallons had escaped the tanks.
"It's contained," said Norfolk Southern spokesman Dan Stevens. "The hazmat crews for the railroad are on site and will be taking care of that situation."
Comment: See the following for other recent train derailments:
Yet another major train derailment: 32 railcars carrying gas explode in Russia
Car-sized boulder breaks off mountain in French Alps, smashes into first carriage and leaves train dangling over steep embankment - 2 dead, 10 injured
Flying drone captures amazing footage of train derailed by shock landslide in Italy
Second Canadian train derailment within a week
CN train carrying crude oil derailed, on fire near Plaster Rock