BENTONIA, Miss. (AP) – Two freight trains collided and partially derailed early Sunday, killing four people and forcing residents to evacuate dozens of nearby homes, authorities said.

The victims were all believed to be crew members from the trains. Rescue teams searched the wreckage Sunday afternoon, but no other injuries were reported.

The collision northeast of Bentonia in west-central Mississippi involved two Canadian National Railroad freight trains. CN spokeswoman Karen Phillips said the cause is still under investigation. It wasn’t immediately clear why the trains were on the same track.

One of the cars leaked vegetable oil and caught fire, but the flames were extinguished, said Amy Carruth, a spokeswoman with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

The northbound train had 137 cars and two locomotives, and the southbound train had 107 cars and four locomotives, Phillips said.

About 45 to 50 people were evacuated from homes in the area near Little Yazoo, but they were to be allowed to return later Sunday, said Nash Nunnery, a spokesman for the emergency agency.

Nunnery said hazardous substance crews had inspected the wreckage.

On June 28, five crew members were injured in a head-on collision on two freight trains on a west Jackson railroad track. The cause of that crash remains under investigation.

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