17 January 2011

Human Remains Found Near CP
Railroad Tracks in Central Regina

Regina Saskatchewan - The remains of a 24-year-old woman were found near the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks in central Regina early Monday morning after she was apparently dragged by a train sometime overnight.
 
The Regina Police Service was called to the tracks near 8th Avenue and Broder Street at 1:53 a.m., after a CP crew first spotted a bag and then the woman's remains.
 
According to police, the woman crawled underneath a train while it was temporarily stopped and was still underneath when it started to move eastbound on the tracks.
 
It is not clear exactly when the woman crawled under the train or how far she was dragged.
 
Kevin Hrysak, a spokesman for CP, said the only train moving in the area at the time rolled through at around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, stopping for four minutes to wait for a switch.
 
The train then pulled onto a track to wait for a relief crew that arrived later in the evening.
 
Police never received a report from railroad employees to say that a person had been hit, but it was the relief crew that found the remains and called police.
 
Foul play is not suspected at this time and the woman's name will not be released by police.
 
The scene that investigators were examining stretched east from the 1400 block of South Railway Street about 1.6 kilometres along the tracks.
 
Remains were found in more than one location in the area.
 
Hrysak said the train stayed in Regina until approximately 7:30 a.m. while the scene was being investigated and then went on its way with a new crew.
 
Those who made the discovery were relieved from their shift and offered critical incident counselling.
 
"It reinforces the whole safety message," said Hrysak. "It's unfortunate that it comes to these types of situation that we never want to see, it's tragic, but it's definitely a reminder that rail yards aren't a safe place to trespass. Trespassing is illegal and railway equipment is unforgiving. At no point should you ever crawl through rail cars because you never know when they're going to move and if you slip, you're going to fall in between. It's a terrible situation that can be the result of it and obviously this is partially the case (in this incident)."
 
There are no trespassing signs along the tracks but not all areas are fenced off.
 
Hrysak said CP considers more fencing anytime such incidents happen.
 
Police are investigating along with the Office of the Chief Coroner and railroad officials.
 
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the RPS at 777-6500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
 
Hrysak said that CP employees have sometimes found bodies in other instances in the company's 125-year history.
 
In fact, this was not the first such incident in Regina.
 
On 2 Dec 2006, a 21-year-old man was found just north of Casino Regina after being hit by a train.
 
On 17 Dec 2001, a woman died after being hit by a train near the corner of South Railway and St. John Street.
 
The discovery of the body on Monday was the second unusual incident to happen along the CP line in Regina in a manner of days.
 
On Saturday, a couple had to abandon their vehicle when it became stuck on the tracks near the intersection of Campbell Street and 13th Avenue.
 
An oncoming train struck the car despite deploying its emergency brake, but no one was injured.
 
Tim Switzer.