Hundreds of Oshawa residents were evacuated from their homes Friday following a Canadian Pacific freight train derailment in the city's south end.
CP says 27 of the train's 111 cars went off the tracks near Park Road South and Highway 401 at about 2:15 p.m. One of the tankers burst into flames during the derailment.
Smoke continued to billow off the engine for several hours and could be seen from a distance throughout the area, says Kim Taylor, a teacher at nearby St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School.
"The brakes screeched and there was some rumbling," says Taylor, who was teaching in her classroom at the time of the derailment. "The portables were shaking and one of the cars turned over and caught on fire."
Area resident Ryan Bruneau was near the scene when the derailment occurred and said he could see fuel leaking from the third car of the train.
Other residents said the train was travelling extremely fast before it went off the rails.
Police evacuated people from within a one-kilometre radius of the derailment site. Area schools were also evacuated, says Durham Police Sgt. Nancy Van Rooy.
The train had been carrying freight boxes and liquid drums. Firefighters did not believe the hydrogen peroxide onboard one of the cars was likely to combust.
While a relatively stable compound, hydrogen peroxide could catch fire if mixed with substances such as grease, oil or gasoline.
It is not yet known was caused the crash. No injuries have been reported.
GO Transit and VIA Rail doesn't use the same rail lines as CP so their train service wasn't affected by the derailment.
