A freight train derailed late at night in southeastern Minnesota, sending six cars into the Mississippi River, authorities said Wednesday.
The derailment of 15 cars in total from the southbound Canadian Pacific train occurred about 10 p.m. Tuesday near Reno in Houston County, a CP spokesman said.
"None of the cars in the river contained dangerous goods, and it does not appear that any have leaked," spokesman Andy Cummings said.
One of the cars that derailed and remained on land lost a saltlike product known as sodium chlorate, a material that is classified as dangerous, Cummings said.
"A very small amount of this product leaked when a cap fell off a railcar," he said, "but none has reached the river."
Also on some of the derailed cars was vegetable oil, which did not leak, according to a county official.
A hazardous materials teams remained at the scene as daybreak arrived.
The tracks run parallel to the river and Hwy. 26, which was closed for a time overnight and later reopened but limited to one lane being shared by traffic in each direction under the supervision of flaggers as of late Wednesday morning.
