Eighteen rail cars fell from the track and a nearby bridge collapsed when a BNSF coal train derailed Thursday evening southeast of Bennet, according to the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office.
No one was injured in the incident, which occurred at about 5 p.m. Thursday near 190th Street and Bennet Road, spilling coal along the rail line and forcing the adjacent road to close for several hours, Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said.
Rail workers begin the cleanup process after a coal train derailed on a section of track east of Bennet on Thursday.
KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
The derailment site is about 10 miles southeast of Lincoln.
Houchin said a bridge along the rail line collapsed as a result of the incident and the tracks beneath the train were torn up. He said the line that extends through south Lincoln won't be operable for three weeks.
"BNSF personnel are on site and using heavy equipment to clear the location and assist with repairs," company spokesman Ben Wilemon said in a statement, adding that the railway is investigating the cause of the derailment.Â
The incident marks the second derailment along the same set of tracks in just more than a year. In June 2021, 10 cars derailed near 148th Street and Bennet Road after days of heavy rain saturated the area .
A coal train heads east daily on the line servicing the Omaha Public Power District plant in Nebraska City. An empty train then returns over the same route each day.
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Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com .
On Twitter @andrewwegley
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