Missing presumed dead in fiery Canada train crash
Local rail boss blames engineer
The Chicago area man who heads the railroad involved now says an engineer is to blame for the disaster. 50 people are presumed to have died.
LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec — Canadian officials told distraught families Wednesday that 30 people still missing after the fiery crash of a runaway oil train are all presumed dead.
Along with 20 bodies found, that would put the death toll from Saturday’s derailment and explosions in this lakeside town at 50.
Hours before that somber meeting, the head of the U.S. railway company whose train crashed made his first visit to Lac-Megantic since the disaster, amid jeers from residents and criticism from politicians, including the Quebec premier.
The rail chief blamed the engineer for failing to set the brakes properly before the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train hurtled down a seven-mile incline, derailed and ignited. All but one of the 73 cars was carrying oil, and at least five exploded.
Edward Burkhardt — who lives in the Chicago area and is president and CEO of parent company Rail World Inc. — said the engineer had been suspended without pay and was under “police control.”
Parts of the devastated town had remained too hot and dangerous to enter and find bodies days after the disaster.
Until Wednesday, the railway company had defended its employees’ actions, but that changed abruptly as Burkhardt singled out the engineer as culpable.
“We think he applied some hand brakes, but the question is, did he apply enough of them?” Burkhardt said. “He said he applied 11 hand brakes. We think that’s not true. Initially we believed him, but now we don’t.”
Burkhardt did not name the engineer, though the company had previously identified the employee as Tom Harding of Quebec. Harding has not spoken publicly since the crash.
“He’s not in jail, but police have talked about prosecuting him,” Burkhardt said. “I understand exactly why the police are considering criminal charges ... If that’s the case, let the chips fall where they may.”