Norfolk Southern confirms that a train derailed shortly after 8 p.m. Sunday near Bartow, about 150 miles southeast of Atlanta. The train was moving from Macon to Augusta, Ga., when 37 cars derailed. One car carrying hydrogen peroxide and another carrying hyrdochloric acid leaked and released fumes into the community, but at levels that were not harmful, according to a railroad statement.
The Jefferson County (Ga.) Sheriff’s Office first ordered all residents within a 7-mile radius of the town to evacuate, according to Sheriff’s Office Facebook posts. The evacuation order was later reduced to a 3-mile radius. The department completely rescinded the order this morning.
Newsweek reports that cars carrying hydrochloric acid did leak but that no one was injured as a result. The train included cars carrying chlorine, but they did not leak, Newsweek reports, citing a Norfolk Southern representative.
The NS line in Bartow is a former Central of Georgia east-west line.
The Georgia derailment comes 14 years, to the day, after an infamous Norfolk Southern wreck in Graniteville, S.C., that killed 9 people with a deadly cloud of chlorine gas released from the crashed train.
Later on Monday, Norfolk Southern provided a statement to media saying that it will open a Family Assistance Center to help residents and businesses affected by the derailment.
More information is available online.
UPDATE: New information from Norfolk Southern. Jan. 7, 2018 , 3:33 p.m. Central time.
