Train with hazardous materials derails in Baltimore; no injuries or spill

BALTIMORE -- A freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed Saturday morning near the center of Baltimore. No injuries were reported, and there was no sign of a leakage or spill, fire department Capt. Roman Clark said.

By afternoon, authorities were removing the wreckage and allowing traffic and pedestrians back into the vicinity after repeated air samples showed no sign of danger.

About a dozen cars of the 131-car CSX Transportation Inc. train came off the tracks at about 8 a.m. and one car turned on its side in an industrial park just south of downtown, Clark said.

The cause of the derailment remained under investigation.

The car that overturned carried residue of tetrachloroethylene, an ingredient in cleaning solutions that can be toxic if inhaled, said CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan.

The derailment occurred within walking distance of the home of the NFL's Ravens, who are scheduled to play in San Diego today.

It also happened just blocks from the site of a July 2001 accident in which 11 freight cars derailed in the Howard Street Tunnel. One car carrying a flammable chemical caught fire, forcing the evacuation of nearby Oriole Park at Camden Yards.