Morning News

Controlled Explosions Dissipate Much Gas from Derailed Train Car

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to start this morning in Louisiana where we have a story -- a breaking story. In Louisiana, where specialists trigger controlled explosions in an effort to clean up hazardous material from the site of a train wreck. The crash happened over the weekend in the small town of Eunice. More than 2,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes.

We'll get details from CNN's Ed Garsten.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED GARSTEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First, a series of earth-shaking explosions, then the fires from the burning tanker cars spit acrid black smoke into the sky, smoke filled with fumes from chemicals with a potential to kill.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They drove up and they said, you all have to evacuate now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have not been in this predicament before, never. It's just scary.

GARSTEN: Authorities are most worried about one tanker filled with volatile and dangerous acrylic acid; they say it could blow at any time.

TROOPER E. I. CHESNE, LOUISIANA STATE POLICE: The acid in there has a probability to generate its own heat and pressure and possibly explode; also, there are small fires on and around that tank; we're concerned about that because of its propensity to explode.

GARSTEN: At first, about 3,500 people were evacuated and sent looking for rooms already scarce because of the holiday weekend. By late Sunday, the number of evacuees was reduced to about 2,500, but authorities say it could be several days before everyone is allowed to return home. The 113 car freight train was on a routine run from Freeport, Texas to Lavonia, Louisiana, and the Union Pacific spokesman says, audio tapes don't reveal anything unusual in the moments before 30 of the cars derailed, leading to the explosions and fires.

MARK DAVIS, UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD: The tapes, themselves, reveal that it was a normal trip, they were going 40 miles an hour in a 40 mile an hour zone. Really, the way the engineer was handling the train, there were no exceptions to that, and then all of a sudden the train went into emergency.

GARSTEN: The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the cause of the derailment. Authorities say, even though the fires and the tanker cars are out, it's still a very dangerous situation.

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GARSTEN: Well, most of that danger has now dissipated, but authorities are still very concerned about that tanker car full of acrylic acid. The controlled explosions were performed overnight to try to relieve some of the pressure of the heat building up in the tank car. They're still afraid, though, that tank car could explode at any time. As soon as we get an update we will let you know how successful that operation was.

Ed Garsten, CNN, reporting live from Eunice, Louisiana.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you, Ed.

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