Authorities lift evacuation order in Minnesota town after train derails

Washington: Authorities have lifted an evacuation order and said no environmental safety issues were detected after a freight train carrying ethanol derailed near a small town in Minnesota early on Thursday. The BNSF Railway-operated train derailed at 1:02 a.m. CDT (0602 GMT) and caught fire, forcing some residents to evacuate in the town of Raymond, Minnesota, about 110 miles (180 km) west of Minneapolis. No injuries were reported. The evacuation order was lifted by the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office which also said there was no impact to ground water. BNSF said “groundwater is unaffected by the incident, and the air monitoring indicates no detectable levels of concern.”   The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Railroad Administration are investigating. BNSF, which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), said earlier approximately 22 cars carrying mixed freight, including ethanol and corn syrup, were reported derailed with four cars that had caught fire. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he spoke to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and visited the scene on Thursday. “The state stands ready to protect the health and safety of the community,” Walz said. In February, the derailment of a freight train operated by Norfolk Southern (NSC.N) released more than a million gallons of hazardous materials and pollutants into the environment around the town of East Palestine, Ohio. The incident prompted a lawsuit from the state, congressional hearings and investigations by U.S. agencies. That episode drew new attention to derailments and prompted calls to toughen U.S. laws and regulations. There are roughly 1,000 U.S. train derailments annually. On Thursday, U.S. senators John Fetterman, Bob Casey and Sherrod Brown, all Democrats, introduced a rail bill to expand safety procedures after the East Palestine derailment. The bill would prohibit mechanics from inspecting a locomotive or rail car while the train is in motion and ensure communication checks between the train front and end do not fail and that emergency brake signals reach the end of a train, responding to an NTSB recommendation. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.