ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Fire Department and Ameren Missouri responded to reported power outages Friday afternoon after a train pulled down several utility poles and caused power outages in the area of Chouteau Avenue and South First Street in St. Louis.
A train was heading westbound near Chouteau Avenue around 1:30 p.m. on Friday when it caught low-lying communication wires and pulled multiple utility poles down with it, according to St. Louis Fire Capt. Garon Mosby. Several power outages near the southern border of downtown St. Louis reportedly impacted residents, businesses and traffic lights.
A spokesperson for Ameren said fire crews responded to the scene. The train pulled down seven utility poles (not power lines) in total. About 180 people in the area were affected by downed poles and 20 people remained without power as of Friday night, according to the utility's outage map. There were no reported injuries.
Fire crews were already responding to the area after a reported body was found on the riverfront. Illinois State Police were handling this as a separate incident and have not released any details, the spokesperson said.
No further information was provided regarding either incident at this time.
This is a developing story. 5 On Your Side will update this story as soon as information becomes available.
