Day 2 of trial in Lac-Mégantic: The investigator marked by distress

Reuters Photo
July 6, 2013, a train without a driver filled with oil, rushed down a slope
and derailed in downtown Lac-Mégantic. The blast killed 47 people.

Caroline Lepage

Tuesday, October 3, 2017 14:54

UPDATE
Tuesday, October 3, 2017 18:54

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SHERBROOKE | An investigator of the SQ of Trois-Rivières sent to Lac-Mégantic after the explosion of a train, July 6, 2013, was marked by the atmosphere of crisis that prevailed in the city.

The investigator of the Sûreté du Québec Pierre Fortier, is still marked by his arrival in Lac-Mégantic, around 8 a.m., the morning following the explosion of the oil train. By heading to the police station in Megantic, he had been greeted by a young woman in distress, who was looking desperately for her boyfriend disappeared in the rubble.

“There were over thirty people in crisis in the parking lot. This was not a nice climate, ” he reported on Tuesday during the second day of the trial of Thomas Harding, Jean Demaitre and Richard Labrie, the three ex-employees of the MMA, the company responsible for the train. They are facing 47 charges of criminal negligence causing death.

PHOTO AGENCE QMI, AUDRÉ KIEFFER

John Demaître, accused

PHOTO AGENCE QMI, AUDRÉ KIEFFER

Richard Labrie, accused

PHOTO AGENCE QMI, AUDRÉ KIEFFER

Thomas Harding, accused

The station was crowded with police and investigators everywhere, which were in very high demand. According to his perception, from the start, he had the impression of investigating a case of criminal negligence.

A meeting took place quickly.

“There was a big excitement. Everyone was given tasks. The SQ prioritizes humans. Everyone wanted to help, ” he exposed.

Voluntary

When it was question to find and enter the locomotive of the oil train, Mr. Fortier volunteered.

The investigator approached the red zone, still on fire.

“There was a empilade of cars “, he recalls.

A lady, who had seen the locomotives pass the day before, led Mr. Fortier. He therefore walked along the track for another kilometre where he was finally discovered. “It was all dirty and black “, he narrated. It was the locomotive 5017, which had caught fire in Nantes, prior to the derailment tragedy. It was spitting oil.

“I received the face up to the trousers,” described the investigator.

• Monday : The Crown prosecutor Véronique Beauchamp was told that the part Jean Demaitre did not want to be bothered in the evening of the explosion.

• Wednesday : the electrical engineer Waldimar Alfaro and the police officer Denis Soulard will be heard as the next witness.