BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The National Transportation Safety Board says an oil train that derailed and caught fire near the southeastern North Dakota city of Casselton spilled about 400,000 gallons of crude.
The NTSB is investigating the cause of the Dec. 30 crash. The agency's preliminary report says 21 of the 106 cars on the BNSF railway train derailed along with the two leading locomotives. Twenty of the cars were carrying oil and 18 were punctured. Damage is estimated at $6.1 million.
No one was hurt but the wreck prompted the voluntary evacuation of about 1,400 of Casselton's 2,400 residents.
A westbound train carrying soybeans derailed first, and a portion of it fell onto an adjacent track carrying the eastbound oil train. The NTSB is studying what role a broken axle might have played.