September 5, 2004
By Gene Adams
WLBT TV
A Kansas City Southern train carrying military fighting vehicles derailed Sunday, dumping its cargo across the tracks and into a Bolton neighborhood.
Twisted steel and tanks lying on their side greeted Addy Green outside her Bolton home. It happened near John Davis Drive. A train car smashed through her neighbor's home.
"It sounded like a bomb or something," Green said.
Mollie McCray, who lives in the home, made it out of her carport with only minor injuries.
"She's blessed," Green said. "She's more than blessed. I mean, because she could have been dead."
Twenty-two train cars derailed just after 2:00 Sunday afternoon. Their cargo was M-1 A-1 Abrams Tanks and Bradley Fighting vehicles.
The train was heading west carrying nearly 40 of the military vehicles to California in advance of the 155th Aarmory Brigade's training at Fort Irwin.
"We're very fortunate that the tankers went to the left instead of to the right into this neighborhood," said Sgt. Steve Pickett, spokesman for the Hinds Co. Sheriff's Dept.
The tanks flipped across the tracks breaking rails and leaving behind a difficult cleanup. Each tank weighs 62 tons.
Officials say the will continue guarding the scene to protect the equipment as well as the safety of those living next to the tracks.
"We're going to be cleaning up," said Shannon Lowery, an environmental scientist with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. "At the same time we're going to be standing by and taking the necessary precautionary measures around the tanks to make sure the fuel tanks stay in tact and that we don't have any fuel leaks."
Officials are still trying to determine the cause of the accident. They say they do not suspect foul play, which was an original concern because of the military equipment aboard the train.
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