No injuries reported
Jun 05, 2009 - 05:06 PM
By Jeff Mitchell
OSHAWA -- Friday's train derailment in Oshawa left a scene of devastation with cars and debris toppled and strewn just metres from residents' homes.
A tangle of cars lay at the west side of the Park Road bridge following the 2:10 p.m. derailment of the CP freight train. Some distance to the west, a string of several engines sat smouldering, one car toppled on its side directly behind them.
A long section of displaced track formed an arc over the rail bed and wheels from rail cars lay strewn throughout the site. A section of the gravel rail bed was torn up, apparently by the cars as they toppled and skidded.
Smoke from the engine fires billowed into the sky, visible for some distance.
Residents in the area stood looking with curiosity at the derailment scene, gathering on the street to catch a glance of the wreckage just metres away from their homes. But they were soon hustled out of the area by police officers, who evacuated a large area surrounding the site.
By 3:50 p.m., the fire in the engines had been extinguished and firefighters on the scene were reporting a diesel leak in that vicinity. Firefighters, CP officials and others gathered on the Park Street bridge to look at cars piled below in an effort to ascertain whether fluid was leaking from any of the derailed cars.
No injuries were being reported as a result of the derailment, and there was no indication hazardous chemicals had spilled.
Canadian Pacific spokesman Mike LoVecchio said there was "very limited" information on the incident.
"CP's first priority will be the safety of the surrounding community and the safety of our employees," he said.
The first order of business for CP will be to mitigate any environmental hazards and an investigation into the cause of the derailment will follow, he said.
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