Brakes disabled before train exploded in Lac-Megantic, railway chief says
The driverless train that barreled into a small Quebec town and
derailed, unleashing a deadly inferno that killed at least 13 people, may have
had its brakes inadvertently disabled, the chairman of the company operating
the train said Tuesday.
Firefighters in the nearby town of Nantes put out a blaze on the
train hours before it rolled into Lac-Megantic. Ed Burkhardt, chief executive
officer and president of Rail World, the parent company of the Montreal, Maine
& Atlantic Railway, told media outlets there's evidence the engine powering
the brakes was shut down at some point.
Pressed to elaborate by CTV, Burkhardt wrote in an e-mail
exchange, "We are now aware the firefighters shut down the locomotive. By
the time (Montreal, Maine & Atlantic) people found out, it was too
late."
In earlier comments to the Montreal Gazette, he said the matter
needs further investigation, and his company has begun an internal inquiry.
"There are a number of missing pieces here," Burkhardt told the
paper, saying he didn't suspect "the event was malicious or an
act of terrorism."
The company did not immediately return phone calls from CNN about
the report.
Asked during a news conference if authorities suspected sabotage,
Ed Belkaloul, manager of rail operations for Canada's Transportation Safety
Board's eastern region, said there was no evidence to that effect.
The train began rolling -- unbeknownst to dispatchers and rail
traffic controllers -- about an hour after the fire in Nantes was reported. It
picked up speed because the track between Nantes and Lac-Megantic lies on a
1.2% downward slope, which Belkaloul said was relatively steep.
Seventy-two tanker cars carrying crude oil jumped the track early
Saturday, setting off a huge fireball. At least 37 people are missing.
Officials in the town 130 miles east of Montreal say some victims were likely
vaporized by the intense blaze, which burned for 36 hours after the crash.
The fire is under control, authorities said Tuesday morning. Of the
roughly 2,000 residents evacuated, about 1,200 will be permitted to return home
immediately. Another 800 cannot go back yet, the officials said.
Notices were placed on doors instructing residents how to clean
and air out their homes. Officials suggested throwing out any food and boiling
all water because the city's water treatment plant is not operational.
Firefighters are now using infrared detectors to find any
remaining hot spots in the wreckage. They've stopped hosing down the area
because it was inhibiting the investigation, officials said.
Rolling oil bomb?
The train had already been on fire hours before the Saturday
accident, Canadian broadcaster CBC reported, sourcing fire officials.
Firefighters in the town of Nantes, 7 miles northwest of Lac-Megantic,
extinguished a small blaze on the freight train.
When they left, the train was still parked where it was supposed
to stay for the night, the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway said.
But air brakes holding it in place failed, allowing the train to barrel
downhill into Lac-Megantic, the company said. It was not clear if Burkhardt was
suggesting to CTV that firefighters were responsible for disabling the brakes,
but he told Reuters earlier that the brakes were disabled when firefighters shut
down the engine powering them.
Investigators plan to check the brakes once the crumpled, burned
tankers are accessible.
The train rolled into town much faster than a train under an
engineer's control would have.
"Usually they're traveling between 5 and 10 miles an
hour," said Quebec police officer Benoit Richard. "On that night,
this train was going at least between 30 and 40 miles an hour."
Sonia Pepin recalls hearing the train like never before. The
tracks are a few feet from her home, and her whole house shook, she said.
Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada found
the locomotive event recorder, which they can analyze for information on
throttle position and speed, among other data.
Oil transport safe?
Petroleum products have increasingly been transported via rail in
the past five years, according to the railroad industry,
and Canada has had multiple issues with derailments in recent months.
Last month, four Canadian Pacific rail cars carrying flammable
petrochemicals used to dilute oil derailed on a flood-damaged bridge spanning
Calgary's Bow River, according to the Calgary Herald.
In another incident involving Canadian Pacific, five tankers
containing oil derailed in rural Saskatchewan in May, spilling 575 barrels of
crude, the Toronto Sun reported.
A month earlier, 22 Canadian Pacific rail cars jumped the tracks
near White River, Ontario. Two of the cars leaked about 400 barrels -- almost
17,000 gallons -- of oil, The Globe and Mail in Toronto reported.
Canadian Pacific was also involved in a stateside spill in March.
Fourteen cars on a mile-long, 94-car train derailed in western Minnesota, about
150 miles northwest of Minneapolis, spilling about 30,000 gallons of crude,
Reuters reported.
A rail car can carry roughly 700 barrels of oil, with 42 gallons
per barrel.
Popular Quebec performer missing
The runaway train rumbled toward
Lac-Megantic while patrons at the
Musi-Cafe were enjoying a summer night of live music. Some were sitting on the
pub's front porch.
The Musi-Cafe is no longer standing, one of an estimated 40
buildings leveled in the crash and explosions. Some of its patrons have been
counted among the 13 confirmed dead.
"We know that there will be many more," said police Lt.
Michel Brunet.
Authorities believe some of those still missing were in the pub at
the time of the accident. Quebecois musician Guy Bolduc had been performing
there.
The pub's Facebook page is filling up with messages of condolence,
as has a page created for the victims of the disaster. Bolduc's fans are
searching for him on social media.
"All of his fans, all over Quebec, but also his fellow
singers (of whom I am one) hope to see him again alive!!! Come on my GuyBol,
come out of your hiding place," one member wrote.
A 'war zone'
When 1,200 evacuees from the Canadian town return Tuesday, they
will find Lac-Megantic gutted for blocks.
"Hot zones" lingering more than two days after the train
derailment hampered authorities' efforts to search for missing people.
Forensic specialists have asked victims' families for hair
samples, clothing, anything to help identify their loved ones.
In a town of just 6,000 residents, most everyone is affected by
the deaths and destruction.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has described the scene as a
"war zone."
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