The two cars began leaking after the 2:20 a.m. Saturday derailment, Lafayette Corporal Paul Mouton said. Authorities went door to door, asking residents to leave the area.

Local firefighters and state police were on the scene, Mouton said.

He said the area is mostly businesses, but there was also a few apartment complexes and a nursing home. Mouton estimated thousands will have to be evacuated.

Acadian Ambulance official Clay Henry said 20 bedbound residents of Our Lady of the Oaks nursing home were being taken to a hospital. He also said two railroad workers had been taken to a hospital for possible exposure and for observation.