Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued an urgent warning Sunday night to people living less than a mile from where the train crash occurred Friday in East Palestine, asking them to evacuate. immediately due to the risk that one of the crashed tank cars explodes and launches fragments that could be fatal.
Authorities detected a drastic temperature change in one of the cars in the last few hours "and now there is the potential for a catastrophic failure of the tank," DeWine reported at 8:40 pm.
"Although crews are working to prevent an explosion from occurring, residents living within a mile of the site are advised to leave the area immediately," it said.
Aerial photos of the area. Gene J. Puskar / AP
Authorities announced on Sunday the
mandatory evacuation of some 1,500 to 2,000 residents
from the area near the fire, local broadcaster WKBN-TV reported.
According to the governor, most of the people have already been evacuated, but there are still about 500 who refuse to leave their homes.
DeWine activated the National Guard to assist local authorities on the scene.
According to the statement, which cites the Columbiana County Sheriff's Office, people with children who have refused to evacuate could be arrested.
East Palestine is in a state of emergency after a freight train derailed at 8:55 pm on Friday, causing an intense fire that forced the evacuation of the area and is still burning this Sunday.
Fifty of the 141 cars that powered three locomotives were involved in the derailment, and 20 of them were carrying "hazardous materials," said Michael Graham, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), who is investigating the causes of the accident.
The train was carrying freight from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, rail operator Norfolk Southern reported.
The accident happened about 51 miles northwest of Pittsburgh and 20 miles from the northern end of the West Virginia Panhandle.
East Palestine, the affected town, is located on the border between Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Authorities are especially concerned about 14 tanks carrying
vinyl chloride,
but the railcars' safety features were still working.
Vinyl chloride, which is used to make the hard plastic polyvinyl chloride resin used in a variety of plastic products, is associated with an increased risk of liver and other cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute.
A train derails in Ohio and causes a powerful fire
Feb 5, 202300:21
Although the investigation of the accident has already begun, investigators have not been able to access the site because it is still considered an "active fire scene," Michael Graham explained Saturday afternoon.
It was expected that this Sunday the researchers would be able to download the data from the black boxes of the locomotives that moved the load as well as the video from the cameras in each of them.
Investigators have been analyzing state police and drone aerial video of the site since yesterday, as well as footage from cameras near the railroad, Graham said.
As of Saturday afternoon, NTSB investigators had not interviewed the train conductor.
Graham explained that the maximum speed on the road is 45 miles per hour, but they did not know how fast the machine was going at the time of the accident, its forward position and braking data.
The NTSB expects to have a preliminary report of the accident in four to six weeks, but the investigation could take up to 24 months.
Rail operator Norfolk Southern set up a Family Assistance Center to care for those affected and donated $25,000 to the Red Cross, according to WKBN-TV.
The company will notify when it is safe for crews to approach the area of the fire
, local officials said at a press conference this Sunday in which they also indicated that residents of East Palestine should call 211 for additional information.