UPDATE: No cleanup timetable for DeSoto train derailment

Train engines and about a dozen rail cars have gone off a track between Ferryville and DeSoto, along Highway 35, with some cars going into the Mississippi River.

Highway traffic was detoured near the accident site.

The derailment, just south of DeSoto, was reported around noon Thursday, with first responders from the DeSoto and Ferryville areas being sent to the accident site. Four members of the rail crew had minor injuries.

Authorities said two train engines were still running after they went in the water.

Another 12-15 cars, reportedly carrying lithium batteries and paint, also derailed. Two train cars were seen floating downstream, but were said to have settled on shore.

The accident site is near the bridge connecting Wisconsin to Lansing, Iowa, a few miles north of Lock and Dam No. 9 at Lynxville.

A HAZMAT team kept people a distance away from the derailment scene because of safety concerns about the lithium batteries.

Later in the day, the director of emergency management for Crawford County, Jim Hackett, told reporters gathered near the accident scene that the batteries and other cargo did not pose a threat to public health.