By Jason Hanna and Devon Sayers, (CNN) — A CSX freight train collided with a tractor-trailer and derailed in the Baltimore area Tuesday, officials said, seriously injuring the truck’s driver and leading to an explosion that a witness said could be felt blocks away.
The crash happened in Rosedale, just to the east of Baltimore, Baltimore County firefighter Jonathan Meehan said. The truck driver was taken to a hospital, said Baltimore County police and fire spokeswoman Elise Armacost.
An explosion followed, and a resulting hazardous-materials situation prompted the evacuation of a half-mile area, according to a Baltimore County police official who declined to be named, citing department policy.
Later, Armacost said “there is no community evacuation at this time.”
Kevin Lindemann told CNN he was working in a Baltimore Windustrial plumbing supply warehouse along the track when he felt something “like an earthquake.” He went to a window.
“The first thing you see is two or three train cars flipped over the side, sliding down the track,” said Lindemann, a sales representative at the warehouse, which he said is a few blocks from the nearest train-road intersection.
Seeing one of the train’s cars on fire, Lindemann and the other people in the warehouse left the building and drove away. The explosion happened after he and the others congregated a few blocks away, he said.
“I couldn’t see (the explosion) directly, but it was deafening,” he said. “It almost forced you to your knees. There were a couple people that were knocked down by it.”
The warehouse appeared to be damaged from the blast, Lindemann said after seeing aerial video of the crash site on TV.
CNN’s Shannon Travis contributed to this report.