Witness describes morning train derailment in North Little Rock

4 months ago 5

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A train derailment on Thursday morning left drivers unable to access the intersection of 13th Street and Main Street for the day, with one witness saying he's never seen anything like it.

Officials said 15 train cars were left lying on their side early Thursday morning, including four tankers. Marcus Kyle was working on a construction project when he heard what he described as a "loud pop" when he went to check out the noise he saw a ripple of train cars falling to the ground.

Train derailment reported in North Little Rock

Kyle said that despite having worked in the railroad industry for years before working in construction, he'd never seen anything like this.

Assistant Fire Marshal Gary Williams said once dispatchers and Union Pacific workers arrived at the scene, they began assessing the crash.

"They're going to try to disconnect, move the box cars and try to stand itself upright," Williams said.

Officials said that the crash did not include hazardous materials and no injuries were reported.

"And luckily no one was hurt on the railroad today,” Kyle said. “In the midst of all this, I guess that's just a blessing from God really.”