Lac-Megantic disaster:Engineer blamed for canada blast

A train operator's chief executive has
blamed a local engineer for a runaway
train that derailed and exploded in a
Quebec town, killing at least 15.
Rail World boss Edward Burkhardt said he
did not believe the last engineer had set a
series of hand brakes, despite the
engineer's protestations.
Residents heckled him as he visited Lac-
Megantic.
Sixty people are now known to be dead or
missing after Saturday morning's disaster.
At least 30 buildings were razed by the
fireball from the explosion.
Railroad record
Making his first visit to the town on
Wednesday, Mr Burkhardt said an engineer,
who was in charge of driving the train,
had been suspended without pay.
"I think he did something wrong," Mr
Burkhardt said, flanked by police escorts, in
Lac-Megantic.
"It's hard to explain why someone didn't
do something. We think he applied some
hand brakes but the question is did he
apply enough of them.
"He said he applied 11 hand brakes. We
think that's not true. Initially we believed
him but now we don't."
The railway chief said he had not visited
the Quebec town before Wednesday
because he was dealing with the crisis in
his Chicago office, where he said he was
better able to communicate with insurers
and authorities.
Earlier on Wednesday, Quebec Premier
Pauline Marois said the company's
response to the crash had been lacking.
"We have realised there are serious gaps
from the railway company from not
having been there and not communicating
with the public," Ms Marois said as she
announced a 60m Canadian dollar (£38m, $
57m) fund to help victims and to rebuild
the town.
The accident has also shown a spotlight on
the railway's safety record. Over the past
decade, the firm has recorded a higher
accident rate than the rest of the US rail
fleet, according to data from the Federal

Railroad Administration.
In the last year, the railroad had 36.1
accidents per million miles travelled, in
comparison to a national average of 14.6
accidents.
'Risky environment'
Some 200 officers were still searching the
disaster site on Wednesday morning, and
the heart of the town was being treated as
a crime scene, cordoned off by police tape.
At the centre of the destruction was the
Musi-Cafe, a popular bar that was filled at
the time of the explosion.
But police said the effort was taking a toll
on some crew members and two people
had to be taken off the operation over
worries for their physical condition.

"This is a very risky environment," said
Quebec Provincial Police Sgt Benoit Richard.
On Tuesday, Quebec Police Inspector Michel
Forget said investigators had ruled out
terrorism as a motive for the attack, but
criminal negligence remained under
consideration.
"This is an enormous task ahead of us," he
said. "We're not at the stage of arrests."
Authorities have asked the relatives of
those still missing to provide DNA samples
by bringing in toothbrushes, razors and
other items.
But the authorities have also warned some
of the bodies may have been burnt to
ashes in the explosion.
About 800 people were still barred from
their homes as of Tuesday, and returning
residents were asked to boil tap water
before using it.
'Partial responsibility'
The train, carrying 72 cars of crude oil, was
parked shortly before midnight on Friday
in the town of Nantes about seven miles
(11km) away.
Local firefighters were later called to put
out a fire on the train.

While tackling that blaze, they shut down a
locomotive that had apparently been left
running to keep the brakes engaged.
Shortly afterwards the train began moving
downhill in an 18-minute journey,
gathering speed until it derailed in Lac-
Megantic and exploded.
The fire department and the train's owners
have appeared in recent days to point the
finger at one another over the disaster.

Mr Burkhardt suggested on Tuesday
evening that firefighters shared some
blame.
"We don't have total responsibility, but we
have partial responsibility," he told
reporters in Montreal.

The train was carrying oil from the Bakken
oil region in the US state of North Dakota to
a refinery on the east coast of Canada.

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