Train derails after collision in Central Washington

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, December 23, 2020

YAKIMA — A freight train derailed in Central Washington after a collision with a truck, one day after a train carrying crude oil derailed north of Seattle, authorities said.

BNSF spokesperson Courtney Wallace said the BNSF train collided with a semi-truck southeast of Yakima, near Mabton, just before 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Wallace told The Seattle Times that three locomotives and eight empty grain cars derailed, Wallace said. Neither the train crew nor the driver of the truck were injured, she said.

The Yakima County Sheriff’s Office said there were “minimal injuries” and that the truck was carrying a piece of farm equipment.

Wallace said the collision is under investigation.

Diesel from two locomotives was leaking, the Washington State Department of Ecology said on Twitter, adding that teams were headed to the site.

On Tuesday morning, a 108-car BNSF Railway train carrying Bakken crude oil derailed in north of Bellingham, and several cars caught fire, forcing residents to evacuate for much of the day. That derailment is also under investigation.