Canadian runaway train disaster firm faces criminal charges
Source: Associated Press
Canadian runaway train disaster firm faces criminal charges
Associated Press in Toronto
theguardian.com, Tuesday 13 May 2014 08.46 BST
The railway company and three of its employees involved in a massive explosion of a runaway oil train that incinerated much of a small town in Quebec last July, killing 47 people, will face criminal negligence charges, provincial prosecutors have said.
The charges come 10 months after more than 60 of the tankers carrying oil from North Dakota came loose in the middle of the night, sped downhill for nearly seven miles (11km) and derailed in the town of Lac-Megantic in eastern Quebec. At least five of the tankers exploded, destroying about 30 buildings, including a bar filled with revellers.
The Quebec provincial prosecutor's office said 47 counts of criminal negligence have been filed against engineer Thomas Harding, manager of train operations Jean Demaitre, and Richard Labrie, who was in charge of rail circulation, as well as the now-defunct Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway Ltd. The criminal charges, the first to be brought, represent one count for each person killed.
Rene Verret, a spokesman for the prosecutor, said the three railway employees were arrested late on Monday afternoon. They are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday in Lac-Megantic. A message left at MM&A offices was not immediately returned.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/13/canadian-runaway-train-disaster-firm-criminal-charges-lac-megantic
