Corn Syrup Train Derails in Arizona

Another freight train has derailed, but only health campaigners would consider its cargo hazardous. BNSF Railway said the train that derailed near Topock in western Arizona Wednesday night was carrying corn syrup, reports Reuters. The company said around eight cars derailed at 7:40pm and there were no reports of injuries or spills. The Mohave County Sheriff's Office initially said the train was carrying hazardous materials, raising fears of a toxic disaster like last month's derailment in Ohio, the New York Times reports.

BNSF, which operates a freight network across the US and parts of Canada, says it is investigating the incident. Morgan Stessman, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas, says there was bad weather in the area at the time and a tornado warning was in effect until around two hours before the derailment, the Times reports. Stessman says the accident happened at a site where a bridge crosses a normally dry channel, and it's possible heavy rain and runoff could have damaged the bridge or the tracks. (More derailment stories.)