7 June 2010

Multiple Railway Deaths
Over the Past Several Days

Winnipeg Manitoba - A woman was struck by a train in River Heights on Saturday and taken to hospital in critical condition, where she died of her injuries.
 
Winnipeg police and emergency responders rushed to a Canadian National Railway track just south of Taylor Avenue and west of Waverley Street about 3 p.m., after being called about the incident that apparently occurred behind the Reh-Fit Centre fitness complex.
 
Police confirmed the CN Rail train struck a pedestrian, though few details were given.
 
"One person has been conveyed to hospital in critical condition," police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said Saturday afternoon, adding it was uncertain whether investigators had identified the victim.
 
Though Michalyshen said he couldn't specify the victim's sex, witnesses around the scene said it was a woman who was taken by ambulance to St. Boniface General Hospital.
 
Police said Saturday night that the death was a result of suicide.
 
City cops and CN police examined the cordoned-off scene, which had tape reaching into a large section of the Reh-Fit Centre's parking lot on Taylor Avenue.
 
While investigators combed the track site for evidence, traffic officers closed a section of Waverley Street to traffic north and south of Taylor.
 
Michalyshen couldn't specify the crash site, though he said it appears to have been in the area of "roughly the 1300-block" of Taylor.
 
Members coming and going from the fitness centre were surprised to learn a woman had been hit by the train.
 
The scene of the collision is near the site of a highly publicized incident involving a train on the same track more than three years ago.
 
Around noon on a weekday in April 2007, Winifred Lindsay, then 89, was trying to cross the track near Waverley on a scooter when she fell off and became pinned beneath it as a train approached.
 
Driving separately, Deborah Chiborak and Gerard Beernaerts, operating a Winnipeg Transit bus, saw Lindsay on the track and ran from their vehicles, pulling the senior from the track just before the train roared past.
 
Chiborak and Beernaerts were later awarded Canadian Medals of Bravery and medals from the U.S.-based Carnegie Hero Fund Commission because of their actions.
 
Ross Romaniuk.

Saskatoon Saskatchewan - A woman whose body was found west of Saskatoon early Saturday morning was apparently hit by a train.
 
Warman RCMP Cst. Mel Zurevinsky says 25 year-old Charity Machiskinic died near Grandora about 10 km outside the city just before 1 a.m.
 
"There's railway tracks running east and west. The female subject, unidentified, was walking along the tracks and was clipped by the train as it passed by her," he says.
 
Zurevinsky notes the train's engineers didn't see her until the last second. It's considered an accidental death.
 
Mounties were having trouble identifying Machiskinic, who did not have any I.D. with her. They're also trying to figure out why she was in the area and if drugs or alcohol were a factor.
 
Brendan Wagner.

Spruce Grove Alberta - An accident involving a single female and a CN freight train in Spruce Grove may have been a suicide attempt, according to the RCMP. EMS and fire crews were able to pull the women from beneath the unusually short westbound train.
 
Spruce Grove RCMP arrived at the scene near Westgrove Dr. around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, followed shortly by EMS and fire personnel.
 
The 27-year-old woman from British Columbia, was transported by STARS Air Ambulance to the University of Alberta Hospital in critical condition, according to Fire Department personnel. She later passed away from her injuries at the hospital.
 
Her name is not being released at the request of the family.
 
Spruce Grove RCMP Cst. Barb Roy could not confirm the suicide attempt theory but also did not rule it out. She also confirmed the woman suffered major damage to her legs.
 
Witnesses at the scene said the woman was standing on the railway track in plain view of the oncoming train but did not get out of the way, despite multiple warnings from the train.
 
"We heard the train laying on the horn pretty good (and repeatedly) and it came screeching to a sudden stop," said Derrick Koch, who manages Grove Motor Products, which is located next to the crash site and adjacent to the tracks.
 
The woman was trapped under the train when the first crews responded and had severe damage to her lower body, said Spruce Grove fire chief Robert Kosterman who attended the scene.
 
Kosterman said the woman was alive and in critical condition when they first arrived at the scene and remained that way until she was air lifted away.
 
She was loaded via stretcher into the waiting STARS helicopter after being treated by Spruce Grove Fire Department medics.
 
Investigators continued to probe the train long after emergency crews left the scene, searching below each car on the approximately 20-car freight train but focusing near the engine at the western most end.
 
CN Rail spokesperson Kelli Svendsen said that the train was only delayed a short while and that the crew of engineers was replaced at the scene and given access to counseling.
 
Simon Druker.

Invermere British Columbia - A prominent East Kootenay physician has died after an accident involving a train, RCMP say.
 
Johnson Albert Rose, 56, worked at the Invermere and District Hospital, where he was Chief of Staff from 2005-2009. He also practiced in Cranbrook at an earlier date.
 
Columbia Valley RCMP said in a press release that it appeared Rose was attempting to cross the railway tracks near 4th Avenue and Laurier Street in Invermere on 1 Jun 2010. Early indications are that Rose was climbing over the couplings of a stationary train, when the train started to move, throwing him off balance and causing him to fall.
 
Witnesses of the scene advised police that "they observed a CPR train that was stationary start to move... and reported a male caught under the train and being dragged," the press release said.
 
"CP rail was contacted and requested to stop, as the conductors at the front of the train were not aware of what had happened further back of them."
 
Columbia Valley RCMP and BC Ambulance arrived on the scene, but the man was deceased.
 
The Coroner's Office was contacted and will assist in the investigation.
 
Erica Phillips, Golden/Invermere Health Service Administrator with Interior Health, issued the following statement:
 
"Interior Health along with its staff and physicians at the Invermere and District Hospital are deeply saddened by the news of the death of our friend and colleague. We send our sincerest condolences to Dr. Rose's family. At this time we are offering support to our staff and physicians who knew and worked with Dr. Rose to help them through this difficult time."
 
Barry Coulter.

Brockville Ontario - The identity of a 19-year-old Brockville man killed Tuesday night by a northbound freight south of the CP Rail crossing at Laurier Boulevard was confirmed by city police Wednesday.
 
Insp. Scott Fraser confirmed the victim is Stephen Moxley, but said police are still investigating why he was on the rail line shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday when tragedy struck.
 
"At this time, investigators do not believe foul play was involved," Fraser told the Recorder and Times.
 
He said the investigation may take some time before it is concluded.
 
Asked if there is any indication the death was suicide, Fraser said that is an element of the police investigation.
 
"We're not at a point where we can say that. We're still investigating."
 
A spokesman from Canadian Pacific Railway, Breanne Feigel said Moxley "appeared to be lying on the tracks" about 100 metres south of the rail crossing at Laurier Boulevard when he was first spotted by the train's crew.
 
At that point, however, it was too late.
 
"They did everything they could, sound the whistle and apply the emergency brakes, but it takes 1,000 metres to stop the train and it (hit) the individual," said Feigel.
 
Feigel said the incident is traumatic for all involved and noted the train crews were offered and have since accepted critical-stress counselling.
 
"Obviously, it's a very tough situation for the crew," said Feigel.
 
She said there is little train traffic on that line overnight and it was closed for a couple of hours after the accident to deal with the situation.
 
"That's typical when we deal with a trespass incident," said Feigel.
 
"It was not a big problem in terms of traffic at that time of the evening," she said, noting regular train schedules were barely disrupted and resumed after the scene was cleared.
 
Nick Gardiner.

Springwater Township Ontario - Police have released the name of a Barrie man who died after falling into a 200-foot ravine early Thursday.
 
Dead is Luc Vaillancourt, 23.
 
Huronia West OPP said he was pronounced dead at the scene, less than a kilometre south of the County Road 27 rail overpass, behind the Simcoe County administration building.
 
Police said two men had been walking on the Canadian Pacific Railway bridge that spans the ravine when Vaillancourt fell.
 
OPP say they don't know why the men were walking there or how Vaillancourt fell.
 
Paramedics called police at about 6 a.m. Thursday, but OPP said the fall took place much earlier.
 
Const. Mark Kinney said Friday that no charges have been laid.