Jun 21, 2009 8:57 pm US/Central
NTSB Says Water High At Derailment, Fire Site
Woman Was Killed As She Tried To Escape From Car At Crossing
ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) ―
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This massive, raging fire followedd the derailment and explosion of a train carrying ethanol near Rockford on Friday, June 19.
CBS
There was high water along the northern Illinois rail line where
a freight train derailed, setting off a fiery explosion and killing one person, federal authorities said Sunday.
But it's unclear what the water levels were during the Friday evening crash, said Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Parts of northern Illinois may have gotten as much as 4 inches of rain Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, 40 to 50 miles east of Rockford, measured 3.6 inches, a record for the date.
Sunday was the first full day federal investigators spent at the accident site. Burning tanker cars kept them at bay for much of Saturday.
"We've been busy and productive," Sumwalt said at a news conference Sunday afternoon. "But there's still a long way to go. ... We're in the fact-gathering phase now."
The NTSB has said identifying a cause of the derailment could take a year.
The agency has conducted initial interviews with the train's crew, and investigators are looking for witnesses, Sumwalt said.
"We want to reach out to the people who might have witnessed something before, during or immediately after the derailment," Sumwalt said.
Canadian National Railway Company officials say 18 rail cars loaded with ethanol left the tracks, exploding into flames. Zoila Tellez, 41, of Rockford abandoned her car at a rail crossing and made it 20 feet before she fell and died.
A 17-year-old girl injured in the accident was in critical but stable condition Sunday at the burn unit of Chicago's Stroger Hospital, said spokesman Marcel Bright.
The derailment happened on Friday evening, but investigators couldn't get to the scene until Saturday night, since some cars were still burning.
The derailment happened near the South Mulford and Sandy Hollow roads at 8:39 p.m. Friday, according to Rockford Fire Department Division Chief Frank Schmitt.
The train was an eastbound Canadian National freight train with 114 cars, 70 of which were carrying flammable liquids, according to Bergsten. Schmitt said some of the cars were hauling ethanol and flames could be seen for miles late Friday night.
A woman was killed as she tried to run to safety from a car stopped at a nearby crossing. She managed to get only 20 feet away before she fell and died, said Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia.
Three people with the woman also ran from the car when it was bombarded with flying railroad ties and they were severely burned by flaming ethanol, said Rockford Fire Chief Derek Bergsten. They were taken to OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in serious to critical condition, and one was transferred to Stroger Hospital in Chicago, he said.
A total of six people were injured, authorities said.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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