(Brothers Arthur L. “Buddy” Irby and Mark Cain were members of BLET Division 203. The following story by Sylvain Metz appeared on the Clarion Ledger website on July 14.)
JACKSON, Miss. — A second Rankin County man has been identified as among the four crew members aboard two Canadian National Railroad freight trains that collided early Sunday in Yazoo County.
Arthur L. “Buddy” Irby, 58, an engineer who lived in the Sandhill community, was killed in the collision, said his wife, Becky Irby.
Yazoo County Coroner Ricky Shivers, however, has not confirmed any identifications. He has said DNA samples were taken from all four bodies recovered at the site. Those samples will be matched with DNA samples taken from family members whose loved ones were believed to be on those trains.
Matching those samples, necessary for positive identification, was expected to take a couple of days, he has said.
The others identified by family members as being aboard the trains were Shannon Purvis, 21, of Puckett and Mark Cain, 52, of Sallis.
Becky Irby, who comes from a large family, said she couldn’t get through the ordeal without her family or the Lord’s help.
“I don’t understand how anyone could get through (something like this) without the Lord,” she said this morning.
The Irbys have four children: Stacy Trest, 38; Susan Irby, 29; Sandra Shivers, 28; and David “Bo” Irby, 25. Bo Irby is an Army specialist stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.
The couple also has three grandchildren.
Purvis was a conductor and Cain was an engineer.
The fourth victim has not been identified, but all four bodies have been recovered.
The accident occurred about 4:15 a.m. when a northbound train and southbound train collided on the north side of the bridge on Anding Oil City Road.
The National Transportation Safety Board and CN Railroad officials are investigating the cause of the accident.