Georgia town evacuated after mass derailment of multiple railroad cars

An entire town in Georgia, in the US, has been evacuated after a mass derailment of multiple railroad cars.

Byromville – population 500 – was cleared when up to 30 carriages containing pressurised propane crashed from a nearby bridge.

CSX Railroad, which was running the 141-car train, said “several” carriages plummeted onto Georgia Highway 90 at 7am local time Saturday, resulting in the mile-wide evacuation.

Brett Walls, the town’s fire chief, told the WMAZ-TV channel that “practically the whole town” had been required to leave – but there were no reports of injuries.

Resident Stephanie Chapman said the smash was audible more than a mile away.

“You could hear the rail cars hitting each other – boom-boom-boom-boom-boom," she told the Associated Press news agency.

A CSX statement released late Saturday said: "Crews are working to re-rail the cars without damage and remove the derailed railcars with damage from the area as quickly and safely as possible."

The evacuation line was reduced to within 300 metres of the crash site by midday.