16,000 Go Home After Fleeing Fumes in Derailment

About 16,000 residents of Pittsburgh’s East End were allowed to return home Sunday after a second evacuation ordered when chemical fumes began to leak from one of 34 railroad cars that had derailed Saturday.

A fire in several of the derailed cars had sent a dark plume of smoke into the sky Saturday, and residents within 2 1/2 miles of the accident had been advised to leave immediately. They were allowed to return after it was determined that none of the chemicals had been burning and that the leaking tanker was plugged.

The residents were told to be out of the area again by noon Sunday, a precaution for when emergency crews would attempt to remove the derailed tanker.

Seeped From Tanker

But the toxic chemical, phosphorus oxychloride, began to seep from the damaged tanker soon after midnight, officials said, and East End residents were awakened by wailing sirens and police bullhorns.

By daybreak, about 16,000 had left, many taking city buses to a downtown convention center, where Red Cross and Salvation Army volunteers handed out free coffee and doughnuts and arranged a Palm Sunday Mass.

Workers safely removed the deadly cargo Sunday, and no serious injuries were reported, although 14 people were treated at hospitals for breathing problems immediately after the derailment.

The 34 cars toppled off the tracks Saturday afternoon when a Conrail freight train en route to Chicago derailed and plowed into another freight train headed in the opposite direction.

Can Be Lethal

Phosphorus oxychloride, a liquid used as an additive in gasoline and hydraulic fluid, turns to vapor in the air and can be lethal in heavy concentrations, said Glenn M. Cannon, the city’s public safety director. It also reacts violently with water.

An air sample over the derailment showed an “insignificant level” of the leaking chemical, officials said.

The other railroad tankers were hauling a variety of chemicals.