Witness describes morning train derailment in North Little Rock

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A train derailment on Thursday morning left drivers unable to access the intersection of 13 ^th Street and Main Street for the day, with one witness saying he’s never seen anything like it.

Officials said 15 train cars were left lying on their side early Thursday morning, including four tankers. Marcus Kyle was working on a construction project when he heard what he described as a “loud pop” when he went to check out the noise he saw a ripple of train cars falling to the ground.

Kyle said that despite having worked in the railroad industry for years before working in construction, he’d never seen anything like this.

Assistant Fire Marshal Gary Williams said once dispatchers and Union Pacific workers arrived at the scene, they began assessing the crash.

“They’re going to try to disconnect, move the box cars and try to stand itself upright,” Williams said.

Officials said that the crash did not include hazardous materials and no injuries were reported.

“And luckily no one was hurt on the railroad today,” Kyle said. “In the midst of all this, I guess that’s just a blessing from God really.”

The cause of the derailment is unknown. Union Pacific Railroad officials said all the cars have been removed from the track and expect the track to reopen Thursday evening.

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