1 Dead, 1 Trapped When Trains Collide

A freight train carrying chemicals hit a coal train from behind just outside Charleston, W.Va., causing an explosion and fire that killed at least one person and trapped a crew member, officials said. Several of the freight train’s tanker cars were carrying bleach, sulfuric acid and ammonium nitrate and burst into flames. The fire produced a vapor cloud that led authorities to evacuate people within 2 miles of the crash. Both trains were operated by CSX Transportation and were headed to Virginia, said a CSX spokesman. It was unclear which train carried the man who died, and authorities had not yet recovered his body. Two people who were injured were in fair condition at a hospital.