U.S. East Palestine residents endure toxic train wreck ordeal: NYT

NEW YORK, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Since a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in February in East Palestine, Ohio, hundreds of local people have reported symptoms associated with the accident, reported The New York Times (NYT) on Wednesday.

After the derailment, "despite several weeks of intense focus, national attention has long since shifted away from East Palestine, where the Ohio governor has declared the air and water safe ... schools reopened, (and) the town held its annual street fair," it said.

"But 200 cleanup workers still arrive each day, working on the 1.4 million gallons of liquid wastewater and 3,293 tons of excavated soil ... earlier this summer, independent researchers warned of chemical contamination in buildings near the derailment site," noted the report.

A series of mysterious health symptoms once forced some residents to move away, according to the report. "Now, they were back, not because their health issues had resolved, or because the house had been proven free of contaminants."

They were back because they had not much left in their saving accounts and had no other choice, it added.