By AP/KWMU
Troy, Ill. – Authorities say about 50 people were evacuated from their homes after a freight train derailment this afternoon 20 miles east of St. Louis.
Troy City Fire Department Chief James Hampton says no one was injured in the derailment. It happened around three p-m along U-S Highway 40 near Triad Road, between Troy and St. Jacob, Illinois.
Hampton says at least 15 train cars derailed. Some of them carried chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide and methylamine anhydrous).
Hampton says homes within a half-mile of the scene were evacuated because the chemicals can irritate the lungs.
He says fire departments from Troy, St. Jacob, Merriville, the Madison County Hazmat team and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency are on the scene.