2 Trains Collide Near Kelso

KELSO - Two freight trains collided early this morning near this southwestern Washington town, and at least one person was reported killed, authorities said.

Three or four other crew members believed to be aboard the trains have not been found.

The crash sparked a fire and several cars derailed, some onto nearby Interstate 5, the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Department said.

The accident was reported about 12:25 a.m. south of Kelso near I-5.

Jody Lindquist, State Patrol communications supervisor in Vancouver, Wash., said the collision occurred on tracks that run alongside the freeway's southbound lanes.

A southbound Burlington-Northern train and northbound Union Pacific train collided head-on, he said.

The Union Pacific train, with a two-person crew, had 83 cars and three locomotives, said Ed Trandahl, a Union Pacific spokesman in Omaha, Neb.

The southbound Burlington Northern, believed to be carrying a three-person crew, had 110 cars and five locomotives, Lindquist said.

The trains were on the same track, which has an automated electronic-signal system to control traffic, Trandahl said.

It was not immediately known what caused the accident.

Firefighters put out a locomotive diesel fire from the wreck.

State troopers halted freeway traffic in both directions for several miles, and freeway traffic was diverted, Lindquist said.

"One of the trains had some butane cars, but they did not derail and were not involved in the fire," he said.