A collision between two Norfolk Southern trains in Lincoln, Alabama, resulted in at least three crew injuries and forced the evacuation of more than 500 nearby residents on Wednesday afternoon.

Just before 17:00 EST, Norfolk Southern train 22R, with GP60s 7137, 7138, and 7143, collided with the rear end of NS train 226, which had taken a siding off of the mainline. The collision caused a fire to erupt and heavily damaged several locomotives and derailed multiple cars on both trains.

NS Spokeswoman Susan Terpay says that autorack train 226 had attempted to pull into a siding to allow the passage of the 22R train. Apparently the 226 didn't fit completely on the siding and had several cars still fouling the mainline when the 22R approached and struck it from behind. Both trains were Atlanta-bound at the time of the collision.

Initial reports indicated that at least three NS employees, believed to have been the crew aboard the train 226, were taken to the hospital with an unknown extent of injuries.

Following the notification of emergency personnel, an evacuation of approximately one mile was ordered, which sent about 500 residents from their homes. Those residents who were unable to get out of their homes due to their close proximity to the wreckage, were told to stay indoors and secure their windows and doors.

There was an initial concern that cars on one of the trains contained sodium cyanide and could pose a harmful threat to air quality. It was eventually determined that the tank car carrying that chemical had not been breached and was not posing an immediate threat.

The collision marks the second rail-related incident to hit this corridor this week. An earlier derailment of a CSX Transportation train using the NS tracks was reported and hampered Amtrak's Crescent service. This incident is also believed to be forcing Amtrak to continue busing passengers that would be scheduled to travel aboard the Crescent trains.