SANTA FE, Texas (AP) - A Burlington Northern Santa Fe derailment sent 22 cars off the tracks and forced an evacuation when an oil-based substance leaked.
BNSF spokesman Joe Faust said it was not immediately clear what caused the train to derail Thursday. Nobody was hurt.
Police Capt. Wayne Kessler described the jumble of derailed cars saying: "It's a mess. They are sideways." Kessler says the evacuation order, for a mile radius, was lifted within two hours of the derailment of the train bound for Houston.
Faust told The Associated Press that two tankers ruptured and one carried an asphalt material, while the other was hauling molten sulfur. The cleanup process will involve heavy equipment moving the cars.
A stretch of nearby Highway 6 was closed.
Santa Fe is a city of about 11,000, located 30 miles southeast of Houston.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
