Europe 1 with AFP 21:48 p.m., March 30, 2023

A new train accident took place this Thursday in Minnesota in the United States. Local residents had to be evacuated after several cars carrying ethanol exploded. According to Transportation Minister Pete Buttigieg, no injuries were reported. Last year, nearly 1,164 similar events took place in the country.

A train derailed in the northern United States early Thursday, and several of its cars carrying ethanol caught fire, forcing the evacuation of residents, two months after a similar incident in Ohio, police said. The train, operated by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad, derailed around 1 a.m. (6 GMT) in the town of Raymond, Minnesota. "Firefighters from Raymond and several nearby towns attended the scene where several of the derailed tank cars caught fire," Kandiyohi County Sheriff Eric Tollefson said in a statement. These cars carried "a form of ethanol," and others corn syrup.

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Train derailed in Ohio two months ago

An evacuation order has been issued for people residing about 800 meters from the derailment area and travel to the town of Raymond is discouraged, the statement added. No deaths or injuries are to be deplored, according to Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who said in a tweet to follow the situation "closely". The accident comes two months after another freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, which caused a huge fire and the evacuation of hundreds of people. Among other things, the train was carrying vinyl chloride, a carcinogenic and highly flammable chemical used in the manufacture of plastic.

The reaction of the authorities, who had carried out "controlled" releases of vinyl chloride to avoid a possible explosion, releasing toxic fumes, had been highly criticized, with residents reporting nausea and headaches in particular. An investigation is still ongoing. Derailments are common in the United States, where 1,164 trains derailed in 2022, or 3 per day on average, according to rail services.