Belle Plaine ? Powerful winds blew 16 freight cars off tracks early Tuesday in southern Kansas, shutting down a key rail link, authorities said.

Sixteen of the 30 cars on a BNSF Railway freight train derailed just east of Belle Plaine, about 30 miles south of Wichita, rail line spokesman Steve Forsberg said. No injuries were reported in the accident, which occurred about 3:40 a.m.

The train was traveling from the Chicago area to Lubbock, Texas, Forsberg said, and was hauling empty containers stacked two high.

High winds were suspected as the cause; the National Weather Service said winds in the area reached as high as 60 mph around the time the train derailed.

The derailment happened on a single-track section of rail. The track was expected to be in full service today, Forsberg said.