Norfolk Southern, the freight rail carrier involved in the East Palestine rail disaster, suffered another accident Tuesday, reported WOIO — this time a fatal collision with a dump truck sitting on the rail line in Cleveland.
The train hit the truck as it ran through a facility that produces steel at 1:19 a.m., the news station reported.
A Norfolk Southern worker on the train was killed. There was no report on the condition of the driver of the dump truck.
The accident comes amid renewed national scrutiny on rail safety, following the derailment in East Palestine that forced thousands to evacuate their homes and released toxic chemicals into the surrounding environment.
The exact cause of that crash is still uncertain, but witnesses saw portions of the train on fire before the derailment occurred.
Rail lines are fitted with safety mechanisms known colloquially as "hot boxes" that are designed to detect overheating components on trains, but subsequent reports revealed allegations that Norfolk Southern cut the jobs of people dedicated to maintaining this equipment in the region.
