TORONTO – The bodies of three Via Rail engineers have been removed from the wreckage of a train derailment west of Toronto.
Halton police Chief Gary Crowell says the bodies we removed around 8 p.m. Sunday.
Halton police told Global News that multiple emergency crews were on scene, climbing toppled train carts around 3:30 p.m. to help people trapped in cars after the train derailed and flipped on its side, killing three Via engineers – including one trainee – and injuring dozens more. There were 75 passengers on board the train. All five carts of the train derailed.
By 6:45 p.m., Via Rail said that all passengers had been evacuated. About 42 passengers were sent to local hospitals, including one crew member. The others were either en route to Toronto or will be soon, the Crown corporation said in a statement.
“There’s no question it’s very tragic. We’re a relatively small company, we’re a family, we know everyone by name,” Via chief operating officer John Marginson told reporters at the scene.
“We certainly feel for the families of the colleagues that we lost.”
Marginson called the wreckage a “very powerful scene to say the least.”
“It’s very premature to speculate … but obviously something went very wrong,” he said. “Right now we’re in the process of moving the equipment that has been damaged. Once we get that equipment in a place that, where we can more thoroughly examine the equipment, more thoroughly examine the track, we’ll do so.”
Three passengers were airlifted to hospital, one with a heart attack, another with a broken leg and the third with a back injury.
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Reports say one of the passengers airlifted was a woman in her 70s.
There were people being carried away on boards and stretchers while other passengers, looking dazed and battered, were led out of the wreckage by emergency workers.
Hamilton General Hospital entered code orange around 5 p.m. Sunday, just hours after the accident. The code signifies “external disaster with mass casualties.”
Other passengers with minor injuries were taken to Joseph Brant Hospital while Toronto EMS picked up a bus full of patients for treatment. The bus took them to a hospital in Mississauga.
A Via Rail spokesperson said the train was travelling from Niagara Falls to Toronto when the incident took place. The train left Niagara Falls at 2:06 p.m.
Michelle Lamarche says two cars came off the tracks near the Aldershot train station in the industrial area by Plains Road and King Road along Highway 403.
Passenger Deanna Villela of Welland, Ont., said she felt a slight bump before the train jumped off the tracks, sending people and luggage flying.
The crash lasted about 10 seconds but felt like forever, she said.
Dorthy Beattie, who lives near the crash site, said she started hearing helicopters overhead around 3:30 p.m.
“I knew there was something amiss but I didn’t know what and I honestly did not hear it derailing,” Beattie said.
“So I had a little walk out just to have a look and it’s like a World War Three zone around here.”
Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring said the crash has caused minor damage to nearby buildings.
Highway 403 was shut down in the area and GO Transit says its commuter trains are turning back at Burlington.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is sending a crew of investigators to the scene.
“The cause of the accident is not known at this time. VIA will collaborate fully with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which is investigating,” the Via Rail statement read.
Chris Krespski, TSBC spokesman, said a full investigation of the incident could take about a year.
There are two investigators at the scene right now and another four will be arriving in Ottawa tomorrow. They will be gathering information from the scene, documenting the wreckage, obtaining possession of locomotives, and interviewing witnesses, Krespski told Global News.
Via is asking people seeking information about passengers on the train to call 1-888-842-6141.
GO Transit passengers on the Lakeshore West rail line can expect to see reduced service during the morning rush hour on Monday and all train service on the Lakeshore West line will originate and terminate at Burlington GO Station.
For the latest GO service updates, visit http://www.gotransit.com.
– With files from the Canadian Press
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