Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

A tanker car on a 21-car rail convoy transporting 49 t of liquefied propane derailed, for an undetermined reason, as the train was entering into a marshalling yard to change locomotives. Fire-fighters immediately set up a safety perimeter and evacuated 2 neighbouring homes. At the same time, analyses of the explosibility measures yielded a negative outcome. Rail traffic was considerably slowed for 90 minutes. That night, the railcars left on the track continued to be moved. The next day, 500 neighbouring residents were evacuated within a radius of 230 m prior to proceeding with transfer operations on the propane railcar (lasting from 6 am until 9:15 pm), despite the fact that the car showed no signs of leaking. A specialised subcontractor transferred gas from the car into a tank for subsequent lifting. At the conclusion of this operation, the residents were allowed back home. A major logistical effort was deployed in order to manage the evacuation.