Train Hits Semi; Derails in TN

A Norfolk Southern train collided with a semi-truck today and went off the tracks in the Lookout Valley area, according to Chattanooga police.

The incident happened in the 400 block of Wauhatchie Pike. A truck driver, train engineer and a conductor were injured in the crash. 

All three people were taken to a local hospital, fire department spokesman Bruce Garner said. The condition of the truck driver was not immediately available, but Garner said the Norfolk Southern employees apparently suffered minor injuries. 

"They actually walked up to the paramedics," he said. 

Eight train cars derailed, according to police, and a significant amount of diesel fuel spilled. 

The truck driver was trapped in the truck after the crash and had to be pulled out by firefighters, Garner said. 

"We had to bring in firefighters to extricate the truck driver from the truck," he said, on a live video update via the social media application Periscope. 

Garner said it does not appear that any of the train cars that derailed were carrying hazardous materials, but added that at least hundreds and perhaps thousands of gallons of diesel fuel has spilled.

Police say that surrounding intersections will be closed for "an extended period of time," including at Cummings Road, Cummings Highway and Wauhatchie Pike.

The semi-truck belonged to Clean Harbors, an environmental cleanup agency, Garner said. 

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