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South Carolina Train Derails, Spills Ammonium Nitrate

An evacuation order was been lifted for all but four homes following a 39-car train derailment in rural South Carolina on Friday night, officials said.
/ Source: NBC News

An evacuation order has been lifted for all but four homes following a 39-car train derailment in rural South Carolina on Friday night, officials said.

Derrick Becker, public information officer for the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, said no one was injured following the crash, which happened at 8:30 p.m. Friday in Trenton, but precautionary evacuations were made after officials confirmed one of the Norfolk Southern tankers was carrying anhydrous ammonia and one was carrying ammonium nitrate, according to Becker.

In total, 15 cars derailed and ammonium nitrate has spilled, according to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division's Twitter account. No harmful spills were detected by Aiken County Hazmat officials who responded to the scene, Becker said.

Aiken County Hazmat officials were assisting at Edgefield County scene.

The train derailed after hitting a tree that had fallen on the tracks, an eyewitness told WAGT. Officials could not immediately confirm the cause of derailment or how many cars the train had all together.

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— NBC News Staff and The Associated Press