Three freight trains collide in Indiana, 2 crew members hospitalized.

Chicago Tribune - Three freight trains were involved in a multiple collision in northeast of Valparaiso, Indiana on Friday, 06 Jan afternoon, leaving in its wake several mangled railway cars shrewn all around and on the tracks with smokes billowing from the burnt wreckages.

Two of the crew members were rushed to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, informed the Sheriff’s authorities. It was at about 1.15 pm that frantic calls were received at 911 reporting a train crash from the rural segment of Porter County NE of Valparaiso, informed Sgt. Larry LaFlower from Porter County Sheriff’s Dept.

At the scene of the crash, emergency responders discovered three freight trains with two crew members in it badly injured. Apparently the trains had derailed after the massive collision had triggered off a huge chemical fire, which in turn caused the injuries and damage to the trains.

According to LaFlower, one of the westbound CSX freight trains with two engines and attached 77 cars had stopped to haul up empty ethanol tankers. This train was hit in the rear by another westbound train having two engines and 60 cars. Due to the impact the cars from the first train derailed and as a result some of the cars from the second train also overturned, informed the sergeant.

Meanwhile a third train comprising of three engines and 48 cars was traversing on a parallel track to an unidentified direction. En-route it struck the wreckage from the first crash, which also caused it to be derailed, triggering a fire, adds the sergeant. Chicago Tribune informs that the first two trains were on the same tracks when they crashed, toppling onto parallel tracks in which the third train was speeding, and heading west.

Two crew members on board the train that rear-ended the halted train were hospitalized with injuries described as “not life threatening,” as per La Flower. The two victims were taken to Porter Hospital in Valparaiso, Ind. for treatment, while the other four were not hurt, he added.

While some reports indicate that one of the trains was carrying ‘ethanol,’ La Flower informed “We have not confirmed that there is nothing hazardous on the other trains.’’ According to him even by 6:30 p.m., the fire was still blazing and the trains had not yet been straightened up nor removed.

Check the live video of the crash scene in Jackson Township, Porter County - NBC Chicago. Some reports inform that the accident caused lot of damage to the passenger cars, probably referring to vehicles halted at crossings. Till afternoon, as per other reports, there were at least two injuries but no fatalities. Meanwhile people residing in the region within the radius were evacuated to safety. The cause of the crash was being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, informed LaFlower.