Low-speed train collision in Fort Madison; 2 injured

Two Burlington Northern-Santa Fe trains collided this morning in Fort Madison. Lee County’s Emergency Management coordinator says the accident happened at about 10 o’clock and both trains partially derailed. Two people were injured and they were taken to a Fort Madison hospital. Four-thousand gallons of diesel fuel spilled out of the engines, and emergency workers were flushing water down the streets of Fort Madison, trying to keep the diesel fuel and other debris from flowing into the Mississippi River. The trains were not moving at a high rate of speed when they collided. Officials don’t suspect foul play, and believe it was just an accident. Also today, a tanker truck carrying diesel fuel overturned at the intersection of Interstates 80 and 35 on the northeast side of Des Moines, closing some travel through the area.