2 crew members injured after freight trains collide in Florida
Two CSX Corp trains collided and derailed in central Florida early on Wednesday, injuring two crew members, the company said.
One freight train carrying non-hazardous phosphate rock while the second train loaded with coal collided in Citra, Florida, about 4:15 a.m. EDT, CSX said.
The cause of the collision was under investigation and the two CSX crew members were being treated for minor injuries, the company said.
Twenty rail cars overturned, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said, though CSX was unable to confirm the number.
The derailment caused a 4,000-gallon fuel leak from the trains, a CBS television affiliated station in Orlando reported.
The phosphate train was traveling from Mulberry, Florida, to Chicago, with three locomotives and 100 loaded phosphate cars, CSX said.
The coal train was traveling from Pembroke, Kentucky, to Tampa, with three locomotives and 110 carloads of coal, it said.
The derailment happened at a rail crossing about 100 miles northwest of Orlando. (Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jeffrey Benkoe)
