A team from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has responded to a train derailment in Field, British Columbia that killed three crew members on Monday morning.
The crew members are all from Calgary.
They have been identified as conductor Dylan Paradis, engineer Andrew Dockrell and trainee Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer.
Officials with CP Rail say that a westbound freight train derailed at about 1:00 a.m. MST and three crew members on board were fatally injured.
TSB spokesperson, Eric Collard, says the TSB was made aware of the incident at about 2:10 a.m. and that a crew has been sent to the scene to gather information and assess the situation.
“We have deployed a team of investigators to the accident site. Two are on site and two are coming from our Calgary office,” he said.
Collard says 40 to 60 grain-hopper cars derailed and that the crash site is a little hard to access.
“It’s a little tricky because the only access to the site is by high-rail, which is a piece of equipment that goes actually on the rail, there’s no road access to the site,” he said.
The locomotive came to rest in the Kicking Horse River but CP Rail says there were no dangerous goods involved and that there is no threat to the public.
The TSB says it is still too early to tell what caused the derailment but investigators will look at a variety of factors.
“We going to be looking at a number of different factors, equipment, the operation of the equipment, human factors, obviously the weather, the maintenance history and any relevant information,” said Collard. “Once we get on site, we’ll collect the data, conduct interviews with CP personnel, first responders, local authorities and we’ll also examine, photograph the wreckage.”
In a statement to CTV News, CP said…
“Our condolences and prayers go out to their families, friends and colleagues. A full investigation will take place to determine the cause of this incident.”
A representative with the union said that the train fell more than 60 metres from a bridge and that the crew consisted of a locomotive engineer, a conductor and a conductor trainee.
Greg Edwards with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference said two of the men were found outside and one was still inside the train.
Edwards said the engineer had more than two decades of railroad experience and that he wasn't sure about the other two.
“Our hearts and our deepest condolences go out to the victims’ loved ones and co-workers. Our union and its 125,000 members stand with them in mourning,” said François Laporte, president of Teamsters Canada, on the union’s website.
(With files from The Canadian Press)
