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Disasters
The Associated Press
Sibley, Iowa

Fiery train derailment prompts evacuation in Iowa town

Smoke billows from derailed train cars
Smoke billows from derailed train cars on Sunday in Sibley, Iowa. Union Pacific spokeswoman Robynn Tysver said about 47 railcars came off the tracks during the derailment, but the train crew was not injured.
Mason Dockter | Sioux City Journal via AP

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Updated: 8:35 p.m.

Thick black smoke billowed into the air Sunday after a train derailed in northwest Iowa, prompting authorities to evacuate part of a nearby town.

The fiery derailment happened early Sunday afternoon on the southwest edge of Sibley, a town of about 3,000 people located just south of the Iowa-Minnesota border, about 15 miles southwest of Worthington, Minn.

There were no immediate reports of injuries related to the derailment.

Photos and video of the derailment posted online Sunday showed dozens of train cars piled up along the tracks with flames and a large plume of smoke coming from one end of the pile of cars. Local media reports said authorities evacuated an area within 5 miles of the derailment.

Union Pacific spokeswoman Robynn Tysver said about 47 cars came off the tracks during the derailment, but the train crew was not injured. She said the railroad is working with local authorities.

Tysver said the cause of the derailment is under investigation.

Sibley Fire Chief Ken Huls told KIWA radio the train was hauling fertilizer and ammonium nitrate.

Nate Minten of Sibley told the Des Moines Register that smoke was still visible around 4:30 p.m. Sunday from his mother's home.

“I could see smoke filling up a couple hundred feet at least,” said Minten who posted aerial drone video of the derailment online, “We didn’t hear any bangs or anything.”

The derailment came a day after about 30 train cars derailed along a different rail line in Albert Lea, Minn. Cleanup at that derailment continued on Sunday.