Train Crash Dumps Poison Gas...Kills Locals

[bloodrayne]

Chlorine Lingers After S.C. Train Wreck

Graniteville, South Carolina - About 5,400 residents within a one-mile radius of a train wreck that killed at least eight people and sickened more than 250 were forced to evacuate on Friday after one of the nation's deadliest toxic chemical spills in years.

With one ruptured tanker continuing to leak deadly chlorine gas and the possibility of another leak from a second damaged tanker, rescue workers in protective suits searched for a textile plant worker. They also went door to door to find out whether there were any more deaths or injuries.

Authorities said those evacuated would not be allowed to return until Tuesday at earliest. A dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed within two miles of the wreck for fear that the cool night air would cause the chlorine to settle close to the ground.

The crash happened about 2:40 a.m. Thursday when a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying 42 cars struck a parked train at a crossing next to the Avondale Mills plant, where 400 workers were on the night shift making denim and other fabrics.

Five workers died at the mill. A man was found dead in a truck near the plant. Another man was found dead in his home. The train engineer died at a hospital.

Authorities said all the deaths appeared to have been caused by the plume of gas that settled over its victims in their homes, their cars and in the textile mill. One of the dead was spotted by Gov. Mark Sanford, who flew over the site to survey the wreckage.

Townspeople and night-shift mill workers said they heard the scrape of metal and a house-shaking boom. Then, in rolled a greenish-yellow fog that smelled powerfully like bleach, searing their eyes and lungs and making them cough and gasp.

"I saw a green mist coming toward me," machine operator Rodney Johnson told the Aiken Standard. "I stepped up to see what it was and ran to my supervisor. He said to get them out."

Johnson said he piled co-workers in his truck and drove to a hospital.

"It tore me all up," Johnson said. "My eyes burned and lungs hurt. I couldn't breathe at all. All I could think about was breathing and getting to rescue."

Mill spokesman Stephen Selker Jr. said some mill workers acted almost as emergency crews, alerting supervisors to an overwhelming bleach smell and urging other workers to get away. "Dozens and dozens of heroes were made," he said.

Volunteer Fire Chief Phil Napier met up with two members of the train crew after getting the train wreck call. As the men spoke, one told Napier he was having trouble breathing, then collapsed. That was when the smell hit the fire chief.

"I had to drive off and leave him on the ground," Napier said Friday, his bloodshot eyes starting to fill with tears.

As he pulled away, he said, he saw the bodies of mill workers lying outside, but there was little he could do without protective gear and an air supply.

Federal officials were investigating the cause of the wreck, but most officials were kept out of the area because of the toxic gas.

Sheriff's Lt. Michael Frank said 30 percent to 40 percent of the contents remained in the leaking tank, which can carry up to 90 tons of liquid chlorine under pressure. The material turns to gas when released.

[Gren the cake]

kinda like drowning.