KNOXVILLE, Tenn., July 2 (UPI) -- More than 5,000 residents were evacuated when a train car carrying highly flammable and toxic gas derailed and caught fire early Thursday.
Seven law enforcement officers were hospitalized after exposure to the fumes in Blount County in eastern Tennessee, just outside Knoxville. Blount Memorial Hospital authorities said up to a dozen emergency responders were to be decontaminated.
The evacuation zone in place extends over a two-mile radius and could be in effect for up to 48 hours.
Officials said they got the call around midnight about the train derailment. Sheriff's spokeswoman Marian O'Briant said at least nine cars of the 60-car train were carrying acrylonitrile, a chemical used to manufacture plastics. One of the cars derailed and one car was on fire.
"It's highly flammable and very toxic," she said.
Local residents were initially evacuated to a local shopping mall and shelters were being set up in a nearby high school.
