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Three Dead and Dozens Injured in Canadian Train Derailment

Posted on February 26, 2012 at 8:48pm by Christopher Santarelli
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Canadian Train Derailment

(AP) – A Canadian Via Rail passenger train derailed west of Toronto Sunday, killing three railroad employees and injuring dozens of passengers, officials said.

Via Rail spokeswoman Michelle Lamarche said the three people killed were all engineers riding in the cab of the locomotive at the front of the train when it derailed in Burlington, Ontario. A fourth Via worker in the locomotive was injured, she said.

Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring also confirmed that three people died in the accident.

Lamarche said no passengers died but 45 were injured. She said 75 people were on board the train traveling from Niagara Falls to Toronto when the train left the tracks around 3:30 p.m. Sunday within view of a residential area near Aldershot station.

The locomotive crashed on its side into a small trackside building, and at least two passengers car behind it were driven off the tracks into an L-shape. All six cars derailed, a Via official said.

Amid the twisted metal and debris emergency crews scrambled to pull passengers to safety amid reports fuel was leaking from the train. Some passengers were carried away on boards and stretchers while others, looking dazed and battered, were led out of the wreckage by emergency workers.

Three passengers were airlifted to hospital, one with a heart attack, another with a broken leg and the third with a back injury. Forty-two other passengers suffered less-serious injuries and were either treated at the scene or taken to local hospitals. Some 30 passengers were well enough to continue on to Toronto’s Union Station by bus.

Canadian Train Derailment

Deanna Villela of Welland, Ontario, said she felt a slight bump before the train jumped off the tracks, sending people and luggage flying. The crash lasted about 10 seconds but felt like “forever,” she said.

Goldring said the crash caused minor damage to nearby buildings.

“There‘s no question it’s very tragic. We’re a relatively small company, we’re a family, we know everyone by name,” Via chief operating officer John Marginson said at the scene. “We certainly feel for the families of the colleagues that we lost.”

Transportation Safety Board investigators were on the scene Sunday. A key piece of evidence will be the train’s data recorder. Weather was not believed to be a factor, as it was clear and dry at the time of the crash. It was not immediately known how fast the train was traveling.

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Comments (15)

Gonzo
Posted on February 27, 2012 at 10:21am
Very sad but, with Canada’s wonderful government healthcare system, all the injured should be treated within the next 9 months.
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kevin
Posted on February 27, 2012 at 12:26am
these crooks will be arrested soon the end of financial tyranny is near read it at divinecosmos.com
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- Obeckian1984
  Posted on February 27, 2012 at 8:02am
  was that one of Warren Buffets ? Like the one that will haul the oil
  now that Hussan has canned the Pipeline ?
  Report Post »
Itsjusttim
Posted on February 26, 2012 at 10:28pm
Train wrecks are omens for the coming train wreck of the global economy. Great Britain is freshly out of money so says the latest report. Unfortunately when they tax more it will further debase tax revenue, by causing many workers to go belly up, and companies to go under, and the wreck will still happen. Either governments cut themselves down by 2/3 or the wreck will be worse and much more painful for everyone.
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- Itsjusttim
  Posted on February 26, 2012 at 10:34pm
  Yep, we are in the days spoken of by the Prophets, but oh what the heck did they know. Just go on laughing at them.
  Report Post »
- Itsjusttim
  Posted on February 26, 2012 at 10:37pm
  Notice that in the Bible it doesn’t say anywhere the Lord is nice, but it says the Lord is good, and they are not synonymous with each other.
  Report Post »
Itsjusttim
Posted on February 26, 2012 at 10:23pm
Well on a good note, that‘s three people who won’t have to starve in the street when the globe collapses.
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sawbuck
Posted on February 26, 2012 at 9:44pm
No need to panic everyone…keep calm..!
I‘m sure our country has all the bases covered.
I for one feel safer knowing our TSA agents here in America, are keeping us safe from granny. .!
I’m getting that funny feeling …This year is not going to be fun at all.
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americansfightingforcommonsense
Posted on February 26, 2012 at 9:28pm
And Barrack H. Obama wants us to have High Speed Rail for moving people across the nation instead of Airplanes, because he says that it can be done cheaper. I personally don’t think that I would want to travel that fast on steel rails that terrorists could easily damage and cause wide spread fear. This man is bound and determined to destroy this nation and make us a third world country.
Got Tea?
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- CatB
  Posted on February 26, 2012 at 9:36pm
  Exactly .. and soon with energy prices .. people will once again be living 24/7 within a few miles of their homes .. like the horse and buggy days .. except horses would give off to much methane and we won’t be allowed those either.
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- sawbuck
  Posted on February 26, 2012 at 10:11pm
  Is it just me or does anyone else start getting nervous…
  When the leader of our country …
  Starts talking about “people” “mass-transit” and “TRAINS” …
  All in the same sentence.?
  Report Post »
- CatB
  Posted on February 26, 2012 at 10:32pm
  @SAWBUCK
  
  Yes …
  Report Post »
right-wing-waco
Posted on February 26, 2012 at 9:22pm
This could be right here if we build the government high speed trains.
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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on February 26, 2012 at 9:33pm
  You’ve got an excellent point there. I’ve ridden AmTrack here and other trains in Europe. No comparison. I rode the old Orange Blossom Special in Florida back in the early ’70s. With it’s steam engines it was a smoother ride than I have ever had on AmTrack. All we need now is turn over high speed rail to the Bozos in the government to be run like the post office and further ruined by unions. Danger just trying to happen.
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- CatB
  Posted on February 26, 2012 at 9:33pm
  My father retired from the US rail (he was a RR engineer) system many years ago .. he never got on a train again .. said that the tracks were not safe. He said he was glad he lived long enough to retire .. my condolences to those workers who were killed on this train. Of course it could also be someone messing with the tracks …
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