Jun 05, 2009 - 02:49 PM

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OSHAWA -- A section of Park Road is closed and residents in the immediate area are being evacuated from their homes after a train derailment in south Oshawa Friday afternoon.

Durham Police are evacuating people living within one kilometre of the derailment.

A Canadian Pacific (CP) freight train left the tracks at about 2:15 p.m. near Park Road South and Hillside Avenue. Twenty seven train cars were involved, and a www.newsdurhamregion.com reporter on the scene said there is a tangle of train cars under the Park Road bridge and a 30- to 40-foot section of track and rail bed is torn up, with wheels and engines strewn across the ground.

One of the cars contained hydrogen peroxide. According to Encyclopedia Britannica hydrogen peroxide is a colourless liquid usually produced as aqueous solutions of various strengths, used principally for bleaching cotton and other textiles and wood pulp.

Dozens of police and fire vehicles are on the scene and Durham EMS is on standby.

Durham Regional Police Sergeant Nancy Van Rooy said police are working with CP officials to determine exactly what was being carried in the tanker and container cars.

Until then, emergency responders are erring on the side of caution.

“We’re taking the precaution of evacuating a one-kilometre radius of the scene,” Sgt. Van Rooy said.

Police have closed Park Road between Hwy. 401 and Gibb Street; traffic is being re-routed.

Stay with www.newsdurhamregion.com for updates. Share your photos and eyewitness accounts to newsroom@durhamregion.com.