Freight train carrying flammable liquids derails in Connecticut, prompting shelter in place: Officials
In this photo released by the Norwich Fire Department, a train derailment is shown in Mansfield, Conn., on Feb. 5, 2026. (Norwich Fire Department)
(MANSFIELD, Calif.) — A freight train carrying flammable liquids derailed in Connecticut on Thursday, prompting a shelter-in-place advisory, officials said.
Approximately 14 railcars of a New England Central Railroad (NECR) train went off the tracks shortly after 9 a.m. in Mansfield near a body of water, fire officials said.
Six railcars carrying liquid propane went fully off the track, with four ending up in water, officials said.
Other derailed cars were carrying liquified natural gas and cooking grease, according to Mansfield Fire Chief John Roache.
The derailment occurred along the Willimantic River, near Eagleville Lake, according to NECR.
Air monitoring has not detected any flammable leaks from any of the train cars, Roache said during a press briefing Thursday. An NECR spokesperson also said there is no indication of any leaks.
Richard Scalora, a supervising emergency response coordinator with the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said his staff is working on several of the railcars to “assure that we don’t have any releases.”
“We’re going to continue in this position until all the rail cars are back on their wheels and safely removed from the area,” he said during the press briefing.
All residents within a half-mile of the area have been advised to shelter in place out of an abundance of caution, due to concerns over a potential natural gas leak, officials said.
No injuries have been reported, according to an NECR spokesperson.
“First responders are on scene with NECR managers to assess the situation,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Emergency response contractors are also en route to assist with an expeditious cleanup.”
The cleanup is anticipated to take several days due to the hard-to-reach location, with crews working to gain access to the site and bring in cranes, according to Roache.
“It’s not going to be a today operation,” he said. “We’re definitely taking it slow and methodical.”
Mansfield Town Manager Ryan Aylesworth said he will be issuing an emergency declaration later Thursday, calling it a “very serious event.”
“We are blessed with natural resources in this community that we want to safeguard, and certainly potential hazardous waste spill is a serious concern,” he said during the briefing. “Fortunately, right now, it appears that the situation is under control and the public health and safety is being maintained.”
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said he is in touch with “our state emergency management and environment teams to assess any impacts regarding the train derailment involving hazardous materials in Mansfield.”
A coyote walks along a wall and behind various bushes that separate homes from The Tracks at Brea Trail in Brea early on Saturday morning, September 21, 2024. Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images
(PORTLAND, Ore.) — A coyote attacked and chased a 9-year-old in Portland, Oregon, while the child was playing hide-and-seek in their own yard, with officials encouraging residents in the area to remain on alert, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The attack occurred last week in the Portland neighborhood of Alameda, where a 9-year-old and a 3-year-old were “playing hide-and-seek in their yard when a coyote approached the 9-year-old” and bit their foot, the fish and wildlife department said in a press release on Wednesday.
The 9-year-old, who was wearing socks at the time of the attack, was able to “shake their foot out of the sock and run away,” officials said.
The coyote then proceeded to chase the 9-year-old until the child’s father — who was on the front porch — began yelling at the animal, who then ran away, officials said.
The child was taken to a local hospital and was “treated for minor injuries,” officials said. The status of the child’s condition remains unclear as of Thursday.
A day after the attack, officials traveled to the scene to “conduct a site investigation” and informed residents via flyers and social media posts that a “concerning incident with a coyote had recently occurred,” the department of fish and wildlife said.
In the days following the attack, officials said they have “continued to monitor the area and talk to neighbors” and are working closely with local and federal authorities to “determine next steps for addressing the human safety situation.”
While coyotes are “not unusual” in this area of Portland — even during the day — officials strongly encouraged residents to “monitor young children playing outside” and to not provide food to coyotes, which is illegal in the state of Oregon.
Dave Keiter, a district wildlife biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, told ABC Portland affiliate KATU the attack was a “very unusual incident,” but feeding the animals can “make them spend more time around humans which can cause conflict both with people and with pets.”
“The vast majority of encounters with coyotes are entirely benign,” Keiter told KATU.
If someone does encounter a coyote, officials said to scare away the animal by yelling, using airhorns, banging pots and pans or throwing objects.
Officials encourage community members to “immediately report concerning encounters and aggressive behavior toward people or pet” to the department of fish and wildlife or call 911 in the event of an emergency.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro is escorted by U.S. Drug Enforcement Agents after arriving in New York City, January 3, 2026. Obtained by ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, made their initial appearance in Manhattan federal court on Monday following their capture by U.S. forces in a military operation in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, with Maduro claiming, “I am innocent.”
Maduro told the court he is “still president of my country” and his attorney signaled they may try to assert Maduro is entitled to protection from prosecution as head of a sovereign state.
There are “issues about the legality of his military abduction,” his attorney Barry Pollack said.
Maduro and Flores — who are being held in federal custody at MDC-Brooklyn — appeared in front of Judge Alvin Hellerstein at noon.
When he entered the courtroom, Maduro greeted the spectators, saying, “Buenos dias.” Maduro was escorted into the courtroom in shackles and orange jail slippers and sat two seats away from his wife.
The couple wore headphones to hear the court-provided interpreter.
When Maduro took his seat next to Pollack, he immediately began writing on a notepad. Flores sat next to her attorney, Mark Donnelly.
Maduro stood before the judge.
“Are you, sir, Nicolas Maduro Moros?” Hellerstein asked.
Maduro declared, through an interpreter, “I am the president of Venezuela.” He added, “I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela,” before the judge interrupted and told him there would be time later to challenge his custody.
Maduro then affirmed he is who the judge said he is.
Hellerstein read Maduro the standard rights.
Maduro said, through an interpreter, “I did not know of these rights. Your Honor is informing me of them now.”
“How do you plead to the indictment?” Hellerstein asked.
Maduro responded, “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he believes Maduro is not the legitimate president of the country. That was also the position of the Biden administration, which offered a $25 million reward for his arrest in January 2025.
“I am innocent. I am not guilty of anything mentioned here,” Maduro responded, through an interpreter, when asked to repeat his plea to the charges.
Hellerstein then turned to Maduro’s wife.
“I am Cilia Flores,” she said. “I am first lady of the Republic of Venezuela.”
Hellerstein interjected, saying, “The purpose today is just to ask you who you are.” The judge then explained her rights to remain silent and to be represented by an attorney.
“Yes I understand and I’ve heard it,” Flores said.
Asked how she pleaded to the three counts of the indictment she faces. Flores responded, “Not guilty — completely innocent.”
“As citizens of the state of Venezuela, you have the right to consult with consular officials,” Hellerstein informed Maduro and Flores.
“We understand it and we would like to have such consular visits,” Maduro said.
Maduro took notes during the proceeding and he asked the judge for permission to keep them.
Maduro and Flores did not ask for bail. The judge said he is open to receiving a bail application in the future, but the couple will otherwise remain detained at MDC-Brooklyn.
Donnelly said Flores was injured during the military operation and requested a medical briefing. A bruise was evident on Flores’ head.
“She sustained significant injuries. There’s worry she may have a fracture or severe bruising on her ribs,” Donnelly said.
As Maduro was being led from the courtroom, someone in the gallery stood and shouted in Spanish, in part, “You will pay in the name of Venezuela.”
Maduro stopped and responded in Spanish, “I am the elected president. I am a prisoner of war. I will be free.”
The next court date is set for March 17.
Before Monday’s hearing, dueling groups of protesters gathered across the street from the courthouse, One group held signs urging President Donald Trump to “Free President Maduro,” and the other supported of his capture.
Maduro and Flores are among six defendants named in a four-count superseding indictment that accused them of conspiring with violent, dangerous drug traffickers for the last 25 years. Maduro has long denied all the allegations.
Maduro’s son, two high-ranking Venezuelan officials and an alleged leader of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang are the other defendants.
Trump said on Saturday that the U.S. “successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela” in which Maduro and Flores were “captured and flown out of the Country.”
Trump said the operation was carried out in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement. Members of Congress said the military, which sources said included the elite Delta Force, was in place to support that law enforcement operation.
In a move that alarmed some observers, Trump, who campaigned on “America First” and against foreign entanglements, said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago the U.S. would “run” Venezuela for an unspecified “period of time.”
He said a team comprised of some of his Cabinet officials along with a local team in Venezuela would be “running the country” because there is “nobody to take over.”
“We’ll run it properly. We’ll run it professionally. We’ll have the greatest oil companies in the world go in and invest billions and billions of dollars and take out money, use that money in Venezuela, and the biggest beneficiary are going to be the people of Venezuela,” Trump said.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has been sworn in as interim leader to lead the country after what the Venezuelan Supreme Court described as Maduro’s “kidnapping.”
Rodriguez demanded Maduro’s return and vowed to defend Venezuela against American aggression.
On Sunday, Rodriguez posted a statement to social media in which she appeared to soften her tone, inviting “the U.S. government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence.”
Trump told reporters on Sunday that the U.S. is “in charge” of Venezuela.
The president said he had not yet spoken to Rodriguez. Asked if he wanted to, Trump said, “At the right time, I will.”
ABC News’ Meghan Mistry and Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
(VIRGINIA) — For a second time in recent days, a federal grand jury in Virginia has refused to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud, sources said.
The grand jury rejected the Department of Justice’s attempt to refile the case after a federal judge dismissed an earlier case based on the unlawful appointment of the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Federal prosecutors on Thursday failed to convince a majority of grand jurors to approve charges that James misled a bank to obtain favorable loan terms on a home mortgage, according to sources.
The charges were presented to a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia’s Alexandria branch after a grand jury in Norfolk, Virginia, last week rejected the charges.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
“This unprecedented rejection makes even clearer that this case should never have seen the light of day,” James’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement. “Career prosecutors who knew better refused to bring it, and now two different grand juries in two different cities have refused to allow these baseless charges to be brought. Any further attempt to revive these discredited charges would be a mockery of our system of justice.”
Prosecutors have alleged that James, who successfully brought a civil fraud case against now-President Donald Trump last year, falsely listed a home she purchased in 2020 as a second home instead of an investment property in order to save potentially $19,000 over the life of the loan with a more favorable mortgage rate.
As ABC News previously reported, prosecutors who investigated James for possible mortgage fraud found evidence that appeared to undercut some of the allegations in the indictment of James secured in September — including the degree to which James allegedly personally profited from her purchase of the property.
James has denied all wrongdoing.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
