(The following report appeared at CTV.ca on June 30.)
Two CN Rail crew members are dead and a third has been taken to hospital for treatment of injuries resulting from a train derailment in B.C.’s Fraser Valley.
The train went off the tracks in B.C.’s Fraser Valley at about 8 p.m. ET Thursday, said CN spokesperson Jim Feeny.
“A local freight service consisting of one locomotive and one loaded lumber car derailed approximately (40 kilometres) north of Lillooet. Preliminary indications are that no dangerous commodities are involved. However, CN deeply regrets to confirm that two crew members were fatally injured in the incident,” Feeny said.
A third crew member has been taken to a hospital in Kamloops, and is listed in stable condition.
Thursday’s accident is the latest in a long string or derailments in B.C.
Last August, nine CN cars carrying toxic chemicals used to make paper and detergents tumbled into a canyon, devastating fish stocks in the area.
A few months later, 10 cars derailed near Squamish.
And in 2002, two CN workers were killed when a train burst into flames after it derailed near McBride, B.C.
In 2005, there were at least 21 derailments in B.C. Twelve of those were considered major.
In the wake of the accidents the federal transport minister at the time, Jean Lapierre, ordered CN to cut down the length of its trains on certain sections of track. He also warned he would call a public inquiry into the company’s operations if its record didn’t improve.
The cause of Thursday’s derailment is not yet known, though officials are currently on the scene and an investigation is underway.