An evacuation order remained in place Monday for part of a northwest Iowa town as firefighters worked to extinguish a burning train after a weekend derailment.

About 47 cars derailed Sunday afternoon near Sibley, including several cars that were carrying hazardous materials. The resulting fire created a thick plume of black smoke but no injuries were reported.

Sibley is a town of about 3,000 people roughly 200 miles (322 kilometers) northwest of Des Moines. The west end of the town was evacuated after the derailment.

Union Pacific spokeswoman Robynn Tysver said the railroad's hazardous materials experts worked with first responders through the night to contain the blaze.

Tysver said several cars involved in the derailment were carrying hydrochloric acid, potassium hydroxide and asphalt. An empty tank car on the train had been carrying liquid ammonia nitrate.

The railroad said the cause of the derailment remains under investigation, but witnesses reported that a bridge had collapsed underneath the train.

Robin Eggink told the Des Moines Register that she and her husband noticed the train slowing down followed by a big cloud of smoke as they were eating at a Pizza Hut outside of Sibley on Sunday. The family drove near the site of the smoke and saw the train split in two on both sides of a bridge that had collapsed before firefighters ordered them out of the area, Eggink said.

Share:
More In Culture
Dow Drops 7.8 Percent as Free-Fall in Oil, Virus Fears Slam Markets
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 7.8%, its steepest drop since the financial crisis of 2008, as a free-fall in oil prices and worsening fears of fallout from the spreading coronavirus outbreak seize markets. The sharp drops triggered the first automatic halts in trading in two decades.
Dow Drops 1,500 Points as Oil Price Plunge Shocks Markets
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 1,500 points, or 6%, following similar drops in Europe after a fight among major crude-producing countries jolted investors already on edge about the widening fallout from the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
Load More