Train derails near Mattawana
Officials: 20 cars, 2 locomotives leave track
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> A freight train locomotive and rail cars lay on an embankment after derailing Friday evening in Bratton Township.
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> A locomotive rests on an embankment next to the railroad tracks Friday evening in Bratton Township.
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> A volunteer firefighter walks among the wreckage following a train derailment Friday evening in Bratton Township.
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> McVeytown ambulance and fire crews responded to the crash Friday evening.
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> An unnamed engineer sits next to the railroad tracks as he makes a call following a train derailment Friday evening. The engineer was treated for minor injuries. His idenitiy was not available as of press time Friday.
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> Fire crews stand among the approximately 20 wrecked empty train cars following a derailment near Mattawana Friday evening in Bratton Township.
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> A view of the freight train derailment from an adjacent field along state Route 103 Friday evening west of Mattawana in Bratton Township.
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> A freight train locomotive and rail cars lay on an embankment after derailing Friday evening in Bratton Township.
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> A locomotive rests on an embankment next to the railroad tracks Friday evening in Bratton Township.
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> A volunteer firefighter walks among the wreckage following a train derailment Friday evening in Bratton Township.
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> McVeytown ambulance and fire crews responded to the crash Friday evening.
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> An unnamed engineer sits next to the railroad tracks as he makes a call following a train derailment Friday evening. The engineer was treated for minor injuries. His idenitiy was not available as of press time Friday.
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> Fire crews stand among the approximately 20 wrecked empty train cars following a derailment near Mattawana Friday evening in Bratton Township.
Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER<br> A view of the freight train derailment from an adjacent field along state Route 103 Friday evening west of Mattawana in Bratton Township.
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MATTAWANA -- A freight train en route to Pittsburgh derailed Friday evening in Bratton Township just west of Mattawana, bringing train traffic through Mifflin County on Norfolk Southern's main line to a halt for at least several hours.
According to the Mifflin County Emergency Communication Center, the call came in at 5:49 p.m.
The Norfolk Southern train which was hauling 112 coal cars, went off the tracks just west of the Mattawana railroad crossing in Bratton Township.
Both Norfolk Southern locomotives and approximately 20 empty cars came to rest near the tracks, on an embankment and in a nearby field. Diesel fuel was also leaking into the field, requiring the dispatch of a special clean-up unit. The operator of the train was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of minor injuries, according to scanner reports.
The cause of the derailment was undetermined as of press time Friday night.
Mifflin County Director of Emergency Communications Phil Lucas, representatives from Norfolk Southern, Pennsylvania State Police Lewistown and McVeytown Fire and EMS were on the scene.