STEELE, N.D. — More than 40 cars of a stopped BNSF Railway train were derailed when struck by a tornado near Steele, N.D., on Wednesday night.
A BNSF spokeswoman told KFYR-TV that 43 cars empty coal gondolas were derailed at approximately 8:19 p.m. The train had been stopped because of reported tornado activity in the area; KX television news reports the National Weather Service had confirmed a tornado in the area at 7:55 p.m. There were no injuries to the train crew. A photo on the KFYR website shows a long string of railcars on their side. KX News reports there were no other injuries and no other damage reported in the area, according to the Kidder County Sheriff’s Department.
Clean-up work is in progress.
Steele, population 665, is on BNSF’s Jamestown Subdivision, approximately 43 miles east of Bismarck, N.D., and 57 miles west of Jamestown, N.D.
