Two CSX Railroad Workers Injured in Fiery Train Derailment in Courtland VA

September 20th, 2013 |

COURTLAND, VA – Two railroad workers were injured on September 19, in a fiery CSX train derailment in Courtland, VA. after 9 rail cars and 2 locomotives from a 41 car CSX train jumped the tracks. Diesel fuel from a punctured tank created a large fuel spill which ignited and burst into flames. An engineer & a conductor in one of the locomotives became trapped in a tangle of rail cars and had to be rescued by emergency crews at the scene.

Two railroad workers were injured in a fiery CSX train derailment in Courtland, VA on September 19, 2013.

Two railroad workers were injured in a fiery CSX train derailment in Courtland, VA Sept. 19, 2013.

The derailment happened around 2:30 a.m. early Thursday morning on September 19, near the 27000 block of Shady Brook Trail in Courtland, VA between the Dominion Power Station and the Ashland Chemical Company on September 19, 2013.

Map shows location of a fiery CSX train derailment near the 27000 block of Shady Brook Trail in Courtland, VA on September 19, 2013.

The railroad company said that the diesel spill was from the fuel tank in one of the locomotives and that there was no chemical spill from any of the rail cars.

One of the railroad employees had to be airlifted to a Hospital in Norfolk, about 49 miles away and the other was treated at a hospital in Franklin, about 5 miles away.

Details on the extent of the railroad workers’ injuries were not available.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Blog post by Gordon, Elias & Seely, a FELA lawyer and Virginia railroad injury lawyer who publishes train accidents and FELA legal news from across the United States.