Old Military Bombs Fall From Car In Derailment

Aging military bombs spilled from a rail car in a pre-dawn derailment Wednesday, but authorities said there was little danger of explosion because the fuses were shipped separately.

“The only thing that would set them off is an extreme, intense fire,” said Jerry Ostendorf of the state’s Emergency Management Division. “There’s minimal risk.”

Larry McCaskill, spokesman for the Military Traffic Management Command in Washington, D.C., said there was no danger the 750-pound, conventional Air Force bombs would detonate.

Most of the bombs stayed inside seven derailed boxcars, but one car split open and scattered 24 bombs outside, according to Jerry Corbett of the state fire marshal’s office.