Crews responding to freight train derailment near Detroit
An emergency crew works at the site of a Norfolk Southern train derailment in Van Buren Township, Mich., near Detroit, on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. (Andy Morrison/Detroit News via AP)
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VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Emergency crews were responding to a freight train derailment Thursday near Detroit, officials said.
Video recorded in Van Buren Township showed that numerous Norfolk Southern train cars were off the tracks. The derailment just before 9 a.m. in an area west of Detroit Metropolitan Airport left the tracks damaged and the wheels disconnected from some rail cars.
Police said there were no reported injuries and no evidence that hazardous materials were exposed in the derailment.
Authorities were urging drivers and residents to avoid the area while they investigate. Several roads were temporarily closed by the derailment.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Michigan, said her office has been in touch with the federal officials, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She said in a statement that a train car “carrying hazardous material has been put upright and is being removed from the area of the other derailed cars” and the EPA was sending a team.
The train derailed as communities in Arizona and Ohio grappled with the fallout from collisions involving hazardous materials. The fiery Ohio wreck also involved train cars.
