Freight trains crash in Ark.; 2 die

Two Union Pacific train crew members were killed and two others were injured when two freight trains collided head-on in northeast Arkansas early Sunday, Arkansas State Police said.

The collision happened about 3 a.m. in Hoxie, a small town about 90 miles northwest of Memphis, Tenn. A resulting fire took about seven hours to extinguish, Union Pacific spokesman Brandon Morris said.

Authorities asked about 500 people within 11/2 miles of the collision to leave their homes because of the fire, the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office said. Most were allowed to return by midmorning Sunday, according to Buddy Williams, county emergency management director.

"The fire involved diesel and also there was a tank car that ruptured and it contained an (unknown) alcoholic beverage," Arkansas Department of Emergency Management spokesman Kendell Snyder said. He said there were no other leaks.

"We don't know the cause of the accident. We have no idea why these trains were on the same line," Williams said, noting no local residents were hurt.

It's at least the second head-on collision involving UP trains since 2012, when two collided in the Oklahoma Panhandle that June, killing three crew members.

The names of those killed and injured on Sunday were not immediately released by Union Pacific. "We're still conducting an investigation, we haven't made any notifications," Morris said.

He did not know where the trains had originated or where they were headed. It was not immediately known how many cars the two trains were pulling, he said.