4 cars fall into a river

Vincent Larin, and
Camille Garnier

Thursday, 12 October 2017 22:00

UPDATE
Friday, 13 October, 2017 00:44

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At least four cars of a freight train which was transporting the cement powder fell to the water as a result of a derailment that occurred yesterday evening on a bridge between Laval and Terrebonne.

“It made a terrible noise, the house vibrated like it had never vibrated,” said a resident of Laval, Franck Delaval. The man who lives for 22 years, next to the entrance of the bridge reserved for the rail traffic says that he has never seen anything like it.

The accident would not have developed, however no injuries, according to Eric Harnois, head of division in the fire Department Terrebonne. The drivers have also been rescued in time.

The cars that were towards the head of the convoy would be pulled out of the rails shortly after 21 h.

At this time, the train was already well underway on a railway track leading to Terrebonne and close to the pont Sophie-Masson, which connects the island of Jesus to the North Shore of Montreal.

The convoy was blocking both the boulevard des Mille-Îles and the rue Saint-Louis in Terrebonne, late yesterday evening, when he stopped, completely distorted.

Cement powder

Mr. Harnois stated that the cars fell into the water were empty. They are used to transport the cement and were en route for be filled again.

At least two cars were hanging out on the banks of the river of the Thousand Islands on the side of Laval, said Franck Delaval.

The asphalt of the boulevard des Mille-Îles is pressed under the force of the impact of the train that is suddenly dislodged from its rails.

All in all, the convoy was composed of at least 105 cars, of which only three were carrying chemical products. These, however, were on earth at the time of the incident and are not upside down in the river, confirmed the mayor of Terrebonne, Stéphane Berthe.

The rest of the cars contained all kinds of goods.

Six cars were still stuck in the middle of the bridge in the middle of the night. The authorities could not move forward to assess the state of the structure.

“The checks will be made tomorrow morning [today]. I am confident that all will be well, the authorities have responded well to the situation, ” commented the mayor of Terrebonne.

Emergency

“Drivers have told me they noticed no anomalies before the accident “, he added.

An important deployment of emergency services has set in motion in the middle of the evening. Agents of the ministry of Environment were present to evaluate the risk of contamination to the river.

The convoy was operated by the railway company Quebec Gatineau Railway. Contacted by The Newspaper, the company did not want to answer our questions.

This event created a commotion in the residential area of the side of Laval, according to TVA News, where many of the residents, alerted by the intervention of the authorities, came out to see what was happening near them.

“It had been 15 minutes that I had to fold my small and my entire house was shaking, told of Francis Moreau. And there are other neighbors who have experienced the same thing. It was quite deafening-thank you ! “

-With the QMI Agency