Train Derails in Ukraine, Releasing Toxic Cloud

A freight train derailed in western Ukraine, releasing a toxic cloud of yellow phosphorus and igniting fears of another Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the AP reports. Twenty people were poisoned and hospitalized, and more than 800 were evacuated from their homes. Rescuers had to extinguish a fire that created a gas cloud over 14 villages in a 35-square-mile area.

Thousands of villagers were advised to stay indoors and refrain from drinking water from wells or consuming local produce. The deputy prime minister called the accident a "disaster," but other officials sought to minimize it: "The cloud of a toxic gas has dispersed, and there is no threat to people's lives," a spokesperson said. (More train stories.)