| 2 hurt in Fraser Canyon derailment |
| Thursday, 31 December 2009 14:48 |
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Two CN Rail workers suffered minor injuries after a mudslide knocked a locomotive and several cars off the rails early Tuesday, about 200 kilometres northeast of Vancouver. CN spokeswoman Kelli Svendsen said the Canadian Pacific freight train was travelling westbound with a CN crew on CN tracks at about 3 a.m. PT. The train was about 12 kilometres west of Boston Bar in the Fraser Canyon when it jumped the tracks, trapping the two CN workers in the cab of the locomotive. "They were in the locomotive for a short period of time," said Svendsen, noting the men were rescued quickly and were conscious and responsive on the way to hospital. "The five cars that derailed were carrying copper concentrate," said Svendsen, but she could not say if any of the cargo had spilled and when the westbound tracks would reopen. The mudslide was likely the result of the heavy rains that have been hitting the B.C. coast in recent days. Two avalanches and a rock slide also closed highways in the region Tuesday morning. In the spirit of balanced reporting, here is what took place with respect to the derailment in the Fraser Canyon Although injuries that included a broken thumb and numerous cuts, (some that required stitches), were reported as minor by the press, it was a harrowing experience for the crew as the locomotive that they operated came to rest on its side only feet away from the canyons edge and a 80 to 100” foot drop into the Fraser River. During the two hours that it took for crews to arrive on scene the crew endured their injuries, heavy rain and the concern of the diesel fuel that was now spilling from the locomotive. Once rescue crews arrived, machinery was used to get to the train crew and lift the door on the nose of the engine to remove the crew, using a stretcher for the locomotive engineer who was knocked out during the incident. A total of about three hours lapsed from the time of the derailment to the removal of the crew by ambulance using an access point some four miles away, a location called Chapman's at the old Alexandria Lodge. Further to the information above you should know that in regards to EFAP there was no formal notification made by the company, therefore no EFAP/Peers were in attendance. The union did not find out about the incident for approx 7.5 hours. In addition, after 3 conversations with local management in regards to having these brothers removed from the working boards on trauma status the union rep found that the conductor called CMC himself and that the engineer was arbitrarily given an off duty time off 13:00 with 8 hours rest. At 19:30 his union rep phoned CMC to have his turn removed as he would have been 1st out at 21:00 for receiving a call for work. When a call was made by the union to the company locally no one seemed to know a thing. |
