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Officials investigating what caused 14-car train to derail in Ontario this weekend

A derailed train can be seen above in Port Colborne, Ont. on March 18 (NRPS) A derailed train can be seen above in Port Colborne, Ont. on March 18 (NRPS)
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The cause of a large train derailment in Ontario’s Niagara region over the weekend is still unknown, police said Monday.

The crash took place on Saturday, just before 10:30 a.m., in Port Colborne, Ont., near Main and King streets.

No one was injured, according to a release issued by Niagara police, and there is no indication the train tracks had been tampered with.

”Officers [...] responded alongside Port Colborne Fire & Emergency Services and [...] paramedics for what was reported as a derailed train," the release reads.

“Upon arrival, it was determined a train with 14 attached train cars was travelling from the Sugarloaf Mill to the Robinhood Mill when the last three hopper style train cars became dislodged from the track and subsequently tipped over,” it continues.

The train was carrying grain, officials said, and resulted in a “substantial” amount of Ontario wheat being spilled into a nearby parking lot.

Piles of Ontario wheat spilled from a derailed train in Port Colbourne, Ont. on March 18 (NRPS)

A video of the crash aftermath posted on social media shows several train cars lying on their side beside a parking lot filled with mountains of wheat and what appears to be damaged tracks.

The Ministry of Environment has attended the scene and concluded that the grain did not pose any environmental concerns, police said.

Vacuum trucks were called in, and the wheat has since been cleaned up and removed, they added.

The cause of the derailment remains under investigation by Transport Canada and Niagara police. 

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