ROCKFORD, Ill. — Railroad tank cars holding thousands of gallons of highly flammable ethanol derailed and exploded in flames, killing a 41-year-old woman as she tried to run to safety from a car stopped at a crossing, authorities said Saturday.
Three other people from the same car escaped with severe burns. Hundreds of people were evacuated.
Eighteen tank cars, all filled with ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, derailed Friday on the edge of Rockford.
National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Robert Sumwalt said investigators wouldn’t speculate the cause. A thorough investigation could take a year, he said.
Reports that the derailment was caused by a washout of the tracks after heavy rain were "not a certainty and this remains under investigation,” Canadian National Railway Co. spokesman Patrick Waldron said.
by the associated press
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