Authorities say a tornado is blamed for a freight train derailment late today in the Texas Panhandle, near Hartley.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Joe Faust says nobody was injured and no hazardous materials spilled.

Faust told The Associated Press that 15 empty cars, plus two engines, derailed.

Faust says the BNSF train was southbound. He didn't immediately have a destination.

Hartley County Sheriff Franky Scott says the accident happened in a rural area along U.S. Highway 385 -- and that one of the cars ended up on the highway.

The sheriff says no vehicles on the highway were struck during the derailment.

The site is about 55 miles northwest of Amarillo. Hartley is a community of about 500.