Hundreds of residents of a North Dakota town face spending New Year in shelter after a series of massive explosions following an oil train derailment.
Nobody was hurt when the crude oil train derailed after reportedly hitting a grain car near the small town of Casselton last night.
The crash triggered a series of explosions and a fire which was still being dealt with today. The 2400 residents of the town were told to remain indoors while firefighters cleaned up the aftermath of the crash.
The 106-unit crude oil train was left with 21 cars ablaze, with those up to five miles away urged to evacuate to avoid contact with smoke from the fire.
Rescue crews have been trying to contain oil spilling from the train with snow, with health officials looking to begin checking for potential risks to the local population once the fires have been put out.
The crash is likely to raise further concerns about transporting crude oil by train, following the derailment and explosion in Canada earlier this year which killed 47 people. Last month another trail derailed in Alabama, with fires from that accident taking days to extinguish.
North Dakota is one of the USA’s key oil states, second only to Texas in production, with as much as 60% of its output being transported by train.
Watch footage of the explosions below:
http://youtu.be/Ia0_3bL5TEQ