Local News

Roads Open, Evacuation Lifted After Explosion

WNIN | By steve.burger

Published June 18, 2018 at 12:24 AM CDT

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Rail cars continue to burn Monday morning in Princeton

ISP

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Overnight image of the derailment in Princeton

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Indiana State Police cars blocking northbound U.S. Highway 41 near the Toyota plant Sunday night

Isaiah Seibert

Update, 1:45pm CDT Monday:

Emergency officials just announced that the evacuation is lifted and all roads around the crash site will reopen, including U.S. Highway 41, as soon as barricades can be removed.

U.S. Highway 41 remains closed at Princeton Monday morning because of liquid propane burning in a tank car following a derailment Sunday evening.

Update, 9:38am CDT Monday: Indiana Department of Transportation officials have posted the detour outlined on the map abovve to keep traffic away from a propane tank car that is still burning on Princeton's south side.

Update, 3am CDT Monday:

CSX Railroad officials were expected to arrive in Princeton about 2am CDT Monday to begin assessing the damage and cause of the derailment and explosion Sunday evening on Princeton's south side.

WNIN's Isaiah Seibert has just returned from Princeton where officials held a press conference with the latest information. Here is audio of the press conference, which has been edited for content not relevant to the incident.

061718_press_conference.mp3

Audio of press conference held about 12:00am Monday at Enon General Baptist Church, just south of the evacuated area in Princeton.

The approximate location of the train derailment Sunday evening on the south side of Princeton, Indiana is circled in red.

Update, 12:30am CDT Monday: Isaiah Seibert reports that the material that exploded and continues to burn is propane from a tank car on the derailed train. Fire officials report that 60-70 homes and businesses within a half-mile radius of the site were evacuated.

Red Cross officials say fifteen people were assisted at the temporary shelter on the Gibson County fairgrounds. They were able to place all of them in local hotels.

The evacuation will continue until the fire burns itself out, which could take several hours, or a few days. The size of the evacuated area was earlier reported by the Gibson County Sheriff's Department as a one mile radius from the accident site.

Earlier: An explosion rocked the south side of Princeton, Indiana Sunday evening when propane in a tank car exploded following a train derailment.

A release from the Gibson County Sheriff's Department says that they received numerous calls about 7:19 PM CDT Sunday about the explosion. As of midnight Sunday, there is no word yet on any injuries, what material exploded or how much was onboard the train. We also don't know how long residents will be out of their homes.

Images from the scene on local media indicate a large fireball accompanied the explosion. The explosion and fire prompted a mandatory evacuation of a one mile radius from the area around U.S. Highway 41 and Canff Trailer Park on Princeton's south side.

This is an ongoing event. WNIN's Isaiah Seibert is at the scene and will file reports for Morning Edition with John Gibson Monday.