Towing vessel collides with barge on Ohio River

JOPPA, Ill. (AP) — A vessel towing a load of crude oil has collided with a barge carrying a shipment of sand on the Ohio River near the southern Illinois village of Joppa.

The Coast Guard says it has a crew responding to the accident, which took place around 3 a.m. Wednesday.

No injuries were reported.

The Coast Guard says one of the oil barges was damaged but remains intact and is not leaking. It is holding an estimated 921,000 gallons of crude.

The sand barge that was hit sank outside the navigable waterway.

A Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit from Paducah, Kentucky, was overseeing recovery efforts.

The cause of the accident is still being investigated.

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