SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Several train cars derailed and were on fire Tuesday south of Louisville, prompting authorities to shut down a busy interstate. "We had a train derailment with some type of an explosion," said Kentucky State Police dispatcher Joey Mattingly. He said he didn't know what was aboard the train.
There were no immediate reports of injuries from the wreck that occurred about 8:50 a.m. EST, he said.
Flames from the derailed cars produced a huge column of smoke.
Bullitt County resident Daymon Strange, who lives less than a half- mile from the crash, said he was outside feeding some ducks when he heard a boom.
"I turned around and looked and there was fire at least 500 feet in the air," he said in a telephone interview. "I've never seen such a fire. It was huge."
Strange said he smelled the fumes even though they were blowing away from his home.
"You can taste it and feel it in your lungs when you go outside," he said.
Authorities had shut down an 18-mile stretch of Interstate 65, Mattingly said.
It was the second fiery train crash in Kentucky in the last two days. On Monday, four runaway rail cars struck two parked locomotives in central Kentucky, causing a fire and spilling a chemical that prompted a limited evacuation.
