Multiple train cars derailed just outside Winnipeg

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is gathering information after several train cars were derailed just outside Winnipeg Tuesday night.

The derailment happened just after 6 p.m. on the Canadian Pacific Railway line near Rosser, Man., just northwest of the city,RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigrewrote in an email.

"No word on cause of the derailment but reports that a strong thunderstorm blew through the area at the time," Manaigre wrote.

Approximately 13 cars derailed in the incident and the cause is under investigation, a CP Rail spokesperson said in an email Tuesday night.

Rick Rutherford was driving in the area at the time when a bad storm rolled in and he pulled over to wait out the worst of it. When visibility cleared up, he continued, and then spotted the derailment.

"It was a bit surreal that this happened right beside me. I just stopped on the road because it was raining so hard, and, probably like everybody in a heavy thunderstorm, you pull over and stop until it passes," he said.

"Well, it was probably within a quarter mile of where I had stopped, and all these rail cars were tipped over on their side."

No injuries, no public safety issues: CP

The CP spokesperson said it was anintermodaltrain that is, one carrying shipping containers on flatcars heading east.

There were no injuries and no public safety issues as a result of the derailment, he added.

CP sent teams to begin the cleanup process, the spokesperson said.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in a news release it's sending investigators to the site.

"The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence," it wrote in the release.

The independent agency investigates marine, pipeline, railway and aviation transportation incidents in Canada.