Deadly Arkansas Train Derailment

Seven empty train cars and a tanker containing a flammable gas derailed Saturday in a switchyard, exploding in a ball of fire that killed one person and forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes.

A plume of smoke covered the south end of the city, and at least seven people went to hospital emergency rooms with complaints of respiratory problems.

At least two homes were destroyed — including one where the victim died — and several vehicles were totaled in the nearly quarter-mile area surrounding the accident, police spokesman Chris Rankin said.

At midday, the propylene tank was still burning, but the fire was under control and the smoke had thinned out, Rankin said.

Initially, police thought the chemical involved was vinyl acetate, which releases poisonous fumes. Officers went door to door, urging thousands of people in a 2-by-5 mile area to move to the north side of town. Propylene is less dangerous.

"The smoke was so thick it blocked out daylight," Rankin said.

A Union Pacific train coming from Chicago hit the back of another freight train in the rail yard, causing the eight cars to derail, said Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis. He said his initial report involving "a small LPG tank" was wrong.

None of the railroad crews were injured, he said. Several patients and nurses at the Wadley Regional Medical center, which is in the evacuation area, also complained of nose and eye irritation, said spokeswoman Shelby Brown.