An oil train was set ablaze in the US state of North Dakota yesterday after a collision with another freight train carrying grain.

Plumes of black smoke and a fireball were seen after the crash and residents within a five mile radius were advised to evacuate their homes. No injuries were reported.

It is unclear how the accident happened and the federal National Transportation Safety Board said it is launching a “go-team” to look into the collision.

A spokeswoman for rail company BNSF suggested the grain train derailed first, then knocked several carriages of the oil train from the neighbouring tracks, reported Associated Press.

Earlier in the year an oil train crash in Quebec, Canada killed 47 people.