Heat Keeps Grip on Plains States, Derails a Train

A heat wave that scorched the Plains on Thursday for the sixth straight day derailed a freight train with rail-warping temperatures of 112 degrees and felled cattle, leaving them rotting--even bursting--in their pens.

At least seven heat-related deaths were reported as the heat moved eastward. It was expected to stay over the eastern half of the nation through the weekend.

Parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Illinois neared 100 degrees.

Near Nebraska City, Neb., 15 cars of a 98-car freight train derailed Wednesday. No one was hurt. John Bromley, spokesman for the Union Pacific, said that the rail buckles when it gets too hot.

Thousands of cattle have died of the heat in Iowa. Many carcasses were decaying and bursting before trucks could take them away to rendering plants to be turned into feed, grease and other products.

Of the people who died, three were in Kansas City, Mo.: a 36-year-old woman whose apartment reached 130 degrees, and two elderly women whose homes lacked air conditioning or fans. A roofer in Texas also died, and the death of a Nebraska cancer patient was hastened by heat stroke.

In Louisville, Ky., on Thursday, a 7-month-old girl died after being left in a locked, parked car in mid-90s heat and a 51-year-old man was found dead from the heat in a downtown housing project.