No injuries reported after train derails on tracks south of Monticello

Published 10:35 pm Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Train officials were expected to have clean-up completed around the tracks headed out of Monticello Wednesday following a derailment there Tuesday.

Lawrence County Sheriff Lessie Butler said the Canadian National freight train was headed south to Bogalusa when it derailed about 1 p.m. Two of the cars came off the tracks, which run alongside Hwy. 587, and one of those cars flipped over, he said.

No one was injured and road traffic was not affected.

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The freight cars that contained paper products derailed two miles south of Monticello.

Butler said although the derailment could be seen from Hwy. 587, workers were slow clearing the area because there is not an intersecting road close by.

“They didn’t say what caused the derailment,” he said. “They looked at where the train came off the track, but didn’t see anything obvious. I don’t know what caused it.”

The incident remains under investigation, said Patrick Waldron, senior manager of media relations for Canadian National.