Derailed train hauling toxic chemicals allowed to burn

Description: Rail cars that caught fire after a freight train crash near Louisville, Kentucky, were being allowed to burn throughout the night to destroy hazardous materials inside them, authorities announced Tuesday evening.

The fiery derailment prompted authorities to evacuate everyone within a mile of the wreck as a pall of thick, black smoke began to spread across the town of Brooks, about 20 miles south of downtown Louisville.

The crash occurred shortly before 9 a.m. The 80-car CSX train was bound for Louisville from Birmingham, Alabama, with 12 cars carrying hazardous materials, Cease said. The crash set ablaze three cars loaded with cyclohexane, a solvent used to produce paint, nylon and resins, said Jason Keller, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Emergency Management. Cyclohexane can affect the central nervous system if inhaled or ingested.

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