Gov. Mike DeWine and Columbiana County officials are urging residents living within one mile of a train derailment in East Palestine to evacuate the area because a “catastrophic tanker failure” that would cause an explosion is possible.
According to the Associated Press, about 50 cars derailed in East Palestine around 9 p.m. Friday as a train was carrying a variety of products from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, rail operator Norfolk Southern said. No injuries to crew, residents or first responders were reported.
In a news release issued around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, DeWine said that within the previous two hours, “a drastic temperature change has taken place in a rail car, and there is now the potential of a catastrophic tanker failure which could cause an explosion with the potential of deadly shrapnel traveling up to a mile.”