Broken Rail Caused West Virginia CSX Train Derailment

Federal investigators now say a broken rail is to blame for the derailment of a freight train in West Virginia last February which exploded due to carrying millions of gallons of oil. The fire destroyed a home and forced evacuations.

FOX News Radio’s Eben Brown reports:

The people of Mount Carbon, West Virginia, were aghast when a CSX freight train hauling three million gallons of crude oil went off the tracks and ignited in their town back in February.

(Man) “Erupted. It just shot flames, a fireball, up higher than the mountain.”

And now investigators say a rail was broken, twice before the crash the railway had been inspected and that particular rail was fine or the damage was missed. Residents need to be moved out of the area. It wasn’t just oil burning says Craig Camuso with CSX.

(Camuso) “27 other hazardous chemicals.”

Speed had never been considered a cause.

Eben Brown, FOX News Radio.