MINERAL SPRINGS, N.C. --
Two people died and two others suffered minor injuries after two trains collided in Union County early Tuesday morning, officials said.
Union County officials said two people were trapped in the wreckage, but were quickly removed and taken to the hospital. The identities of the injured train personnel have not been released.
Mineral Springs mayor Rick Becker said the cleanup will take weeks because of the remote location of the accident. Becker said the men who died were in the rear train, but officials assessing the accident have not determined a cause.
The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into what caused the crash. An investigation team is headed to the scene of the crash, officials said.
The Federal Railroad Association and CSX are also investigating the accident.
A half-mile area in Mineral Springs around the scene of the collision at Potter Road and Waxhaw Highway has been evacuated due to the smoke and fire coming from the crash scene. Union County Sheriff’s deputies are handling the evacuations, officials said.
Union County officials said six families -- about 15 people -- were evacuated and one family opted to take shelter.
Highway 75 has been closed, officials said. The highway is expected to be closed all day.
According to CSX officials, one train rear-ended another near the town of Mineral Springs. One of the trains consisted of two locomotives and 12 cars traveling from Atlanta to Charlotte, and the other consisted of two locomotives and nine cars traveling from New Orleans to Hamlet, officials said.
Union County officials said that the nine-car train carrying steel, stone and empty freight cars was hit by the 12-car train. The fire that firefighters are battling is in the nine-car train, they said. Seven are fire departments responded to the fire, but officials expect the efforts to put out the fire to last through the day.
The American Red Cross is opening a shelter at Mineral Springs United Methodist Church for displaced families after a train derailed in Mineral Springs.
So far, about 20 people have been through the shelter, and people staffing it say they expect people to be coming in all day. Shelter staffers also said the evacuation may enlarge at some point during the say, which would send even more residents of Mineral Springs to the temporary shelter.
One resident at the shelter said he heard the accident and thought it was a plane crash.
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