https://abcnews.go.com/US/montana-train-derailment-bridge-collapse-cleanup-yellowstone-river/story?id=100400711
Parts of a freight train carrying hazardous materials remain in the Yellowstone River in southern Montana after a bridge collapsed over the weekend.
Nine mangled cars six that contained hot asphalt, three holding molten sulfur and one with scrap metal were still in the rushing water on Monday evening as cleanup work continued, according to Columbus Fire Chief Rich Cowger.
"Some divers were brought in to see about how we would attach to those cars," Cowger said during a press conference. "While those assessments were being done, it was noticed that there is still some products of asphalt that's leaking out of those cars that are damaged."
The incident occurred early Saturday near the town of Columbus, about 40 miles west of Billings, in a rural area of the Yellowstone River Valley. The train was traveling over a bridge when it collapsed and 16 cars derailed, sending 10 of them into the river below, some 110 miles downstream from Yellowstone National Park. No injuries were reported.
It remains unclear whether the derailment caused the bridge to collapse or if the collapse precipitated the derailment.
"We honestly have no idea what happened first, whether it was the bridge or the derailment," Cowger told reporters on Monday evening. "There was an eastbound train across that bridge an hour before and things were fine with the bridge then. So there's an investigation to figure what that looks like and what exactly happened. That'll take some time as cars are pulled out of the river."