Engine, cars plunge into river after trains collide

DRESBACH, Minn. — Two freight trains collided Wednesday, derailing 26 cars and sending an engine and some railcars plunging into the Mississippi River, authorities said. No serious injuries were reported.

Why the Canadian Pacific Railway trains collided is under investigation, said Mike LoVecchio, a spokesman for the rail company in Calgary, Alberta.

The trains crashed near Dresbach in southeastern Minnesota. One railcar struck a 1,000-gallon propane tank attached to a switching station, causing a small leak that was stopped by afternoon, authorities said.

The derailment disrupted Amtrak service to hundreds of passengers, said Bob Kamrowski, station manager in La Crosse, Wis. Amtrak makes two trips a day on the route blocked by the derailment.

People planning to board Amtrak trains in several Minnesota and Wisconsin cities were being bused to either Chicago or Minneapolis, he said.

"They are telling me one day (of disruption)," Kamrowski said. "I have no idea if that is going to be the truth or not."

About 25 disabled veterans at the nearby Mosher Veterans Rest Home near Dresbach were evacuated for several hours as a precaution, said Joyce Tlougan, deputy director of Winona County Emergency Management.

One train engine was partially submerged in the Mississippi River, Tlougan said. Three cars were leaking liquid nitrogen, a farm fertilizer, but the material was contained around the cars and none was reaching the river, officials said.

The locomotive that did not end up in the river was leaking diesel fuel but the fluid was contained on land.

Four workers operated the two trains. Two were taken to a hospital as a precaution, but all four were "safe and accounted for," LoVecchio said.