Cleotha Jennings was sipping a beer at Martins Fish House today when he heard the boom.
I saw one of the trains rocking on the track, he said. And I saw some of
the workers jumping off.
He and others just off work for the day sat facing out the glass storefront, watching police direct a steady stream of cars past the tangle of rail cars near tracks at Bullard Street and Industrial Drive in west Jackson.
Trains come down here too fast anyway, Jennings said. They blow their
horns three, maybe four times, and then you better look out.
Two people were hospitalized after a freight train apparently rear-ended another. The tracks run alongside Bullard.
Jim Pollard, with AMR ambulance service, said the two unidentified people were transported from the scene to local hospitals. He described their injuries as nonlife-threatening.
There has been no word on what may have caused the crash. A man who answered the phone at Kansas City Southern headquarters wouldnt identify himself and refused comment on the crash, other than to say it's under investigation.
Jackson police and other emergency responders still were at the scene around 11 p.m. Crews with the Mississippi Department of Transportation were on hand. No one with MDOT would comment.
JPD spokesman Lt. Jeffery Scott said an eastbound KCS train with at least three workers aboard smashed into a stationary train, also apparently owned by KCS.
AMR dispatched its disaster supply trailer, but Pollard said at 5:20 p.m. today it had been removed.
AMR is standing down, Pollard said, meaning there wasnt a continuing need for the disaster trailer or ambulances.
The impact sent several cars from the stationary train off the tracks. Some toppled on their sides; others landed upright, coming to rest perpendicular to the tracks.
Scott confirmed two people received minor injuries.
Several streets in the area were closed off, although no hazardous material was reported spilled. The National Transportation Safety Board was to further investigate the crash.
A reporter said there had been construction activity on or near the tracks. Heavy machinery was spotted at one of the crossings. A woman who works across the street from the wreck site said crews had been out there for a while.
JPD Cmdr. Jesse Robinson said a security company has been called to help secure the area. There had been reports of looters.
The cargo included at least one car full of bicycles. Police recovered about 20 bicycles.