Several injured after freight train, empty passenger train collide in Washington, D.C.

Several injured after freight train, empty passenger train collide in Washington, D.C.

2010-11-05 21:30:54 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- Several people were injured on early Friday morning when a freight train and an empty passenger train collided in Washington, D.C., officials said.

The collision, which reportedly happened at a relatively low speed, happened just after 9 a.m. EDT near the 900 block of 2nd Street Northeast, not far from Union Station.

"Shortly after nine o'clock this morning, units from the Washington, D.C. Fire and EMS department were dispatched to a report of a train crash/collision involving several trains," said Pete Piringer, a spokesman for D.C. Fire and EMS. "Units converged on the area which included a mass casualty response, [Hazmat], Special Operations, Tactical Rescue and of course Fire and EMS."

Piringer said the trains involved were a freight train carrying little or no cargo and a larger passenger train with no passengers on board. "There were several employees, operators, on the train, [but] no passengers," he said.

Four or five of the employees on board the trains sustained minor injuries in the crash, Piringer said, adding that the freight train was not carrying hazardous materials.

Last year, on June 22, nine people were killed and more than 80 others were injured when two southbound Red Line Washington Metro trains collided during the afternoon rush hour in Northeast D.C. It was the deadliest crash in the history of Washington Metro.

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