CSX Coal Train Derailment - Ellicott City, MD
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N 39° 16.066 W 076° 47.698
18S E 345152 N 4348026
An 80-car CSX train carrying 9,000 tons of coal derailed in downtown Ellicott City at 12:02 AM on August 21, 2012.
Waymark Code: WMF5W3
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 08/28/2012
Views: 18
Two women were killed when the train derailed. Both were 2010 graduates of a nearby high school and were soon to return to college. The girls were seated on the bridge about 20 feet over Main Street with their backs to the tracks when the CSX train's cars began to pass a few feet behind them. They were buried under the coal as it dumped from the open-air cars. The coal leveled cars in a nearby parking lot.
The cause of the derailment has not been determined. The emergency brakes engaged automatically as the result of a rupture in a pressurized air brake line somewhere along the train. It is not know whether the women's presence on the bridge contributed to the accident.
As part of the investigation into the deaths, police were processing the women's cellphones to determine the origin of a string of messages and photos they believe the women posted on the social media website Twitter just minutes before the derailment, including one that indicated they may have been drinking.
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