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Investigators seek cause of freak crash (The following story by Stan Josey and Paul Irish appeared on the Toronto Star website on January 16.) TORONTO -- An intensive investigation is under way to find out what caused the last two cars of a freight train to derail, crushing a minivan and killing two women. The accident Wednesday night happened as the 40-car, Canadian Pacific Montreal-to-Toronto train was crossing an overpass in a heavily populated area near downtown Whitby, next to a public school. The train was headed to a freight yard in Etobicoke. The victims -- Kathleen Kellachan, 36, of Whitby, and her niece Christine Harrington, 19, of Keswick -- died instantly when their vehicle was struck and then crushed by two containers, one carrying a cargo of Scotch whisky. Harrington owned the minivan and was believed to be driving south on Garden St., said Durham Region police Sergeant Paul Malik. Brock Winter, Canadian Pacific's vice-president of field operations, expressed condolences to the victim's families involved in the "most unusual accident." "Safety is a priority in our company and our safety record stands as the best in the North American railroad industry," Winter told a news conference yesterday afternoon. "This is our first fatal accident involving a train derailment since 1986." Investigators from the railway, Transport Canada and the federal Transportation Safety Board have begun a probe. Winter said it was too early to say whether the cold snap was a factor. Police said they did not believe the derailment was the result of sabotage. Winter said 14 "modular containers" holding mixed freight flew off the cars and were strewn beside the tracks and on the roadway after two specialized rail cars derailed. He said the train cars actually derailed "a few hundred feet" east of the bridge, so special safety devices -- extra rails -- installed near overpasses failed to keep the cars on the track bed. "The train momentum was enough to bring those cars off the bridge down on to the road and part way up the other side." The car was crushed against the western bank of the rail bridge and crushed by two containers. "Derailments do occur from time to time," said Winter, who is based in Calgary, "but what makes this one so tragic is the uncommon series of events that followed the derailment." He said investigators have determined the train was travelling at 80 kilometres per hour, the correct track speed "to meet (CP) schedules" in the GTA. The Transportation Safety Board, which is in charge of the investigation, declined comment. Winter said the investigation will be "aggressive" and will include lab tests of the rails and wheels involved in the crash and perhaps even a re-enactment of the fatal train run. CP brought in cranes and bulldozers to start loading the damaged freight containers on to flatbed trucks late yesterday. Police estimated it would be late today at the earliest before the wreckage is cleared. The road surface also was damaged and will have to be repaired before Garden St. can reopen. Winter said he could not estimate when CP's main Toronto-Montreal rail line would reopen. He said other railways were allowing CP to re-route shipments over their tracks. Derek Glass, who lives close to the accident scene, said chunks of concrete from the damaged bridge were raining all around him when he went to the aid of the victims. "I heard this huge rumble. "I ran from the house and all I could see was this huge fire in one of the cars. It was incredible, it burned for about two hours." He said he kept onlookers from the scene because of the fire, but had to leave himself when he became concerned about the falling debris from the damaged bridge.' "I'm still shaken up by it all," he said. "Something like this really makes you stop and think." Leslie McFarlane Public School, adjacent to the rail lines and close to the bridge, was closed yesterday and will be closed again today. As well, Florence M. Heard Public school, which remained open yesterday, will also be closed today. Garden St. is the main feeder route for both the Durham Districts School Board schools. Alice Mulvihill, whose children attend McFarlane, called the death of the two woman "tragic" and said area residents will likely be cautious of the overpass now. "I know it may have nothing to do with the bridge, but people will be spooked," she said. "One of my daughter's friends says she's scared to go under the bridge when trains are on it -- and that was before the accident."
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