One person was killed and thousands of others were evacuated Saturday in the south-central US state of Arkansas, after a train derailed and a tanker containing flammable gas exploded, local media reported.

Seven empty train cars and a tanker containing propylene derailed in Texarkana, southwest of Arkansas, when the Union Pacific train was hit in the back by another Union Pacific train coming from Chicago, the reports said.

At least two homes were destroyed, in one of which one person was killed, and at least seven people with respiratory problems were sent to hospital for treatment.

The tanker was still burning at midday, but the fire was under control, the reports said.

Source: Xinhua