Train derailments and explosions and chemical spills

France train crash: At least 60 people injured as train smashes into fallen tree during violent storms
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/france-train-crash-least-60-8650873

At least 60 people have been injured after a train crashed into a tree which fell onto tracks during violent storms near Montpellier, France.

The train crashed during violent storms near Montpellier and at least 10 people are said to have been seriously hurt

The train crashed between Baillargues and Castelnau-le-Lez and emergency services are currently at the scene.

Pictures taken by passengers at the scene show extensive damage to at least one carriage and broken glass strewn across the floor.

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Dozens of people were hurt, eight of them seriously, when a regional train hit a tree uprooted during a hailstorm in the south of France.

Witnesses said one passenger had been thrown out of the train by the force of the crash, at Saint-Aunes in the Herault region.

Emergency services said one person was critically injured and airlifted to hospital.

The front of the train was badly damaged and windows were knocked out.

The double-decker train had been travelling at 140km/h to the east of Montpellier when it rammed into the tree at around 15:45 local time (13:45 GMT), reports said.

The accident left the Montpellier to Nimes line completely blocked during the evening rush-hour.

The hailstorm hit large areas of the south and local residents in the area tweeted pictures of hailstones the size of golf-balls.

The area is known for its vineyards and there were concerns that this year's harvest could be affected by the storm.

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A Union Pacific train carrying coal derailed near Dallas in the US state of Texas on Sunday, sending five railcars into a creek, local police said, adding no one was injured.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Police officers responding to the emergency said they had observed some 20 railcars derailed, with five plunged into Denton Creek.

"At approximately 6:00 p.m., the Roanoke Police Department received multiple 911 calls about a Union Pacific train derailment," the Roanoke Texas Police said in a statement.

Flower Mound police and Roanoke Police Department have shut the southbound highway into Roanoke, a northwestern Dallas suburb. Northbound traffic remained open.

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A Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd train derailment in Toronto caused a diesel leak near a residential area on Sunday, authorities said.

While a regulation body said there were no injuries, Transport Minister Marc Garneau told reporters about 1,200 liters (317 gallons) of diesel fuel were leaked.

The incident began with a westbound train striking an eastbound one that was changing tracks early in the morning, said Transportation Safety Board of Canada spokesman Chris Krepski.

He said both trains derailed, with the westbound one, comprising two locomotives, leaking diesel.

The eastbound train carried "small quantities" of dangerous goods in one of its last cars, but there was no leakage, Krepski said.

He said the goods included non-flammable gas under pressure, compressed nitrogen, aerosol containers, wet batteries and alcoholic beverages.

It was not immediately clear when the track will reopen.

Canadian Pacific spokesman Martin Cej confirmed the car contained dangerous goods, but said there were no public safety concerns.

"The incident was a result of human error, so there were no track issues, no signaling issues, no mechanical issues," he said.

Neither he nor Krepski nor specified the amount of dangerous goods or said what was in the other cars.

Canada's rail safety measures have come under scrutiny since a July 2013 incident when a runaway train crashed, killing 47 people and destroying buildings in the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic. Canadian Pacific had transported the tank cars of oil involved to Montreal before they crashed under another operator.

In March, Toronto city councilors and Mayor John Tory sent a joint letter to Garneau calling for the federal government to improve protection for communities living along commercial rail lines.

Councilor Mike Layton told reporters at the scene of Sunday's incident that authorities need to examine whether the trains were carrying appropriate cargo and whether all safety measures were taken.

Speaking in Sudbury, Ontario, at a federal cabinet retreat, Garneau said the government already requires train companies to inform municipalities beforehand about their cargo.

"We also have speed restrictions," he said. "We also put in measures with respect to immobilizing trains when they are unattended."

He added responders were using "materials to put into the ground" to soak up the diesel.

"There is no concern that it's gone into a waterway," he said.

Toronto police said there were no charges involved in the incident.

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At least two people have died after a train derailed in Galicia, northern Spain, a spokesman said today. The train, made up of four carriages, left the tracks and ploughed into a pylon as it was travelling under a

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At least 91 people killed, hundreds injured as train derails in India

Indian rescue workers search for survivors in the wreckage of a train that derailed near Pukhrayan in Kanpur district on November 20, 2016
At least 91 people were killed and scores injured when 14 cars of an express train derailed near the town of Pukhrayan in Uttar Pradesh in northern India, AFP reported, citing police. Relief teams have rushed to the scene.

"The death toll has unfortunately increased and it is 91 now," Daljit Singh Chawdhary, additional police director general of Uttar Pradesh state, said, as cited by AFP.

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Rescue operations are under way," Indian Express cited Anil Saxena, a spokesman for Indian Railways, as saying.

However, the death toll is expected to rise as the rescue operation is under way. All the hospitals in the area are mobilized to receive the injured.

The incident happened some 100 kilometers from the city of Kanpur, the second-largest industrial city in India, at about 3:00 a.m. local time, when most of the passengers were asleep.

It has not been made clear what caused the derailment. Indian Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu ordered that an inquiry be "immediately" opened into the circumstances of the derailment.

"The strictest possible action will be taken against those who could be responsible for the accident," he wrote on Twitter, adding that "all possible mobilization relief" has been initiated.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the victims of the crash, adding that the Minister for Railways has been put in charge of overseeing the situation.

Along with ambulances, buses have been sent to the site of the crash to help those who were unharmed in the catastrophe and became stranded unable to continue the journey, said Vijay Kumar, spokesman for Northern Central Railways, Punjab Update reported.

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