The remains of the burnt out cars at Lake Megantic - 8 Jul 2013 Mathieu Belanger.

13 September 2013

Lake Megantic Employee Says
He Was Not Qualified

The last railway employee dispatched to the scene of the 6 Jul 2013 fire (in Nantes) that sparked the devastating train derailment in Lake Megantic was not qualified to manage the situation, QMI Agency has learned.
 
Editor's Note:  The Nantes fire was reported as occurring at 23:30 on 5 Jul 2013.
 
Jean-Noel Busque, a foreman employed by Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA), told QMI in an exclusive interview that his job was not to look after locomotives.
 
When asked which MMA employee was supposed to be on-site, Busque responded, "I don't know."
 
Before the runaway MMA train derailed and killed 47 people, its locomotive caught fire at a station (Nantes) where it was parked outside the small town.
 
Firefighters extinguished the flames, and MMA dispatched Busque to the scene.
 
After Busque and the firefighters left, the driverless train began moving, picking up momentum before it charged into the centre of town (Lake Megantic).
 
New reports suggested that a broken piston in the train's engine caused the train to move on its own, and the Transportation Safety Board said it couldn't yet confirm what caused the initial fire.
 
Editor's Note:  Broken piston causes train to move? I don't think so. As regards the locomotive fire in Nantes see this link.
 
MMA chairman Ed Burkhardt told reporters that the train's engineer, Tom Harding, might have failed to properly secure the brakes after parking the train and leaving for the night.
 
However, Busque's comments to QMI shift the attention away from Harding and raise questions regarding MMA's responsibility.
 
Harding's lawyer, Thomas Walsh, told QMI it was "a possibility" his client would be charged criminally in connection with the derailment.
 
Walsh said he was preparing his client's defence.
 
Author unknown.

Vancouver Island
British Columbia
Canada