Road collapses after train crash

A highway overpass in Missouri has collapsed after rail carriages slammed into one of the bridge's pillars following a cargo train collision.

The scene where several train carriages derailed on a train near Rockview Missouri AP Southeast Missourian Fred Lynch The scene where several train carriages derailed on a train near Rockview, Missouri (AP/Southeast Missourian, Fred Lynch) [PA]

Seven people are injured, though none seriously.

The bridge collapsed after a Union Pacific train hit the side of a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train at a rail intersection. Derailed rail cars then hit columns supporting the highway overpass, causing it to buckle and partially collapse.

The National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation into the cause of the train collision early on Saturday.

The crash came a week a commuter train derailed and was struck by another outside New York City, injuring 70 people and disrupting service for days outside New York City.

The overpass that collapsed was about 15 years old and in good condition but just could not withstand the impact from the rail cars, Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said.

Only two vehicles were on the overpass at the time of Saturday's collision. Five people in the vehicles were taken to a hospital, along with a train conductor and an engineer. All seven had been released by Saturday afternoon, hospital spokeswoman Felecia Blanton said.

"You're driving down the road and the next thing you know the bridge is not there. ... It could have been really bad," Sheriff Walter said.

The crash derailed dozens of rail carriages hauling scrap metal, cars and car parts, tossing them into the overpass' support columns. The highway was shut down for about eight miles.

Two 40-foot sections of the overpass buckled while the two cars were on the roadway, sending the cars into the edges of the collapsed sections. A diesel fire also broke out in one of the locomotives after the collision, but was quickly extinguished, Sheriff Walter said.

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