A major rail freight accident which happened on 11 July in Columbus, Ohio shows the dangers inherent in carrying hazardous freight. A freight train travelling at low speeds de-railed carrying ethanol and corn syrup. The resulting fire was witnessed from as far as ten miles away as huge sheets of flame licked the night sky.
Fortunately the incident occurred outside the metropolitan area of America’s sixteenth largest city. It occurred at 2am most people were safely in bed. Accidents of this kind are very infrequent, compared with the volume of freight carried by train in the USA, and only two people were injured on this occasion.