Although Norfolk Southern Railway Company said that the derailment accident on the 4th did not cause any casualties and "did not involve dangerous substances", local officials were very angry at the successive derailment accidents. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio angrily criticized the company for caring only about profits and ignoring the safety of the people in the state, accusing the derailment accident as "unacceptable".
Screenshot of CNN report
According to reports, the accident occurred in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio. According to the statement of Connor Spielmaker, a spokesman for Norfolk Southern Railway Company, at about 5 pm local time on March 4, the freight train with 212 cars suddenly had an accident while driving southward in the area, and about 20 of them derailed.
"The accident did not involve dangerous substances, and there were no reports of injuries. Our team is going to the scene to start cleaning up," Spermaker said. He later added that the company was trying to find out what the train was carrying.
After the accident, the Clark County Emergency Management Bureau posted a message on social media, saying that "out of caution", residents within 1000 feet of the train derailment were required to "take refuge on the spot" and urged people going to Ohio to find alternative routes. According to the bureau, the derailment accident also caused the destruction of power lines, which caused more than 1,500 local residents to lose power. It is not clear how long it will take nearby residents to restore power supply.
It is worth noting that US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who was criticized for his improper handling of the "poison train" accident, responded quickly this time. He said through Twitter that night that he had listened to the briefing on the derailment accident and sent officials from the Federal Railway Administration to the scene to provide support. Buttigieg also mentioned that "there are no reports of leakage of dangerous substances, but we will continue to monitor them closely."
Ohio Governor Mike Devon also stressed on Twitter that "we don’t think (the accident) involves dangerous materials" and said that many state agencies including Ohio Environmental Protection Bureau, Emergency Management Bureau and Highway Patrol were also on the scene.
Although no casualties have been reported in this derailment accident, the accidents of Norfolk Southern Railway Company in this state have made local officials quite annoyed. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio wrote in a statement that night: "San Daski, Stobenville, East Palestine, and now Springfield-there have been four derailment accidents of Norfolk Southern Railway Company in less than five months, because this company is more concerned with profit margins than the safety of Ohio people. The Ohio community should not be forced to live in fear of another disaster, which is unacceptable. "
In fact, Brown’s statement of "four accidents in five months" is still missing. According to previous reports from the US media, in the past five months, there have been at least five derailment accidents of Norfolk Southern Railway Company in Ohio.
On October 8th last year, the Norfolk Southern Railway Company train derailed in San Daski, Ohio, involving 20 carriages. Although no one was injured in the accident, liquid paraffin leaked from the carriage, which entered the sewer system of the city and caused blockage. On November 1 last year, the company’s train derailed in Lavaine, Ohio, involving 22 carriages, 16 to 18 of which contained items such as rock salt. A few days later, another train of the company derailed in Stobenville, Ohio, involving 15 carriages. The train was transporting garbage at that time, and no casualties were reported, but the garbage on the train fell into the Ohio River.
On February 3 this year, another train of the company derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. There were 20 dangerous chemical carriages involved in the train, 11 of which derailed, resulting in the leakage of toxic chemicals. At that time, the video of the scene of the fire and poisonous smoke shocked netizens around the world, and some Americans compared the disaster to "the Ohio version of Chernobyl." The accident triggered a strong protest from residents, who reported that they had symptoms such as headache and cough after the accident, and worried that toxic chemicals had leaked into the surrounding ecosystem.
On the occasion of the aftermath of the "poison train" accident, another Norfolk Southern Railway Company train derailed in Springfield on the 4th, which once again exposed the safety of American railways to the spotlight. According to CNN, data from the Safety Analysis Office of the Federal Railway Administration show that at least 1,000 derailment accidents have occurred in the United States every year in the past 10 years.
On the same day of the Springfield train derailment accident, a tanker carrying flammable liquid overturned and exploded on the highway in Frederic, Maryland, killing a driver. At the same time, the explosion caused fires in several nearby houses, causing damage to houses and vehicles. Local officials advised residents to avoid the area.
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