The Crazy Train of Lac Megantic: Little Consideration, Many Questions

(BRUXELLES2) I was very surprised, even shocked, by the way the Lac-Megantic (*) disaster in Quebec - Canada was so little covered in the media, and even relegated to the background by the Boeing disaster 777 of the South Korean company at San Francisco airport (*). However, the two disasters have nothing comparable either in the scale or in the follow-up to be given to the case. In the case of the plane crash, we are in a rather classic hypothesis of a missed landing target with possible errors at the technical, human and control tower levels. The investigation will clearly tell. 2 dead, very seriously injured (some may not recover) and others lighter. It's serious. But it is a contained drama. Because flying always involves a slight risk. And the accident takes place on a place known for this risk, the airport.

Another scale

In Quebec, we are in another hypothesis, and another scale of magnitude. First of all by the extent of the disaster: Around 50 dead, an entire neighborhood pulverized. Part of the shops, the municipal administration immobilized or destroyed in a small town of 6000 inhabitants. In other words, each family is directly and indirectly affected. Then, the victims took no risk, they were at home or celebrating, without awareness or even the ounce of taking a risk.

A "crazy" train

Finally, on board the train, no one... The train (from the Montreal Maine and Atlantic railway company) literally exploded on its own in the middle of town. A real disaster movie scenario. We do not yet fully know the causes of the derailment, the fire and the explosion, or rather the chain of causes, nor the extent of the responsibilities of each of the parties involved (firefighters, State, railway company, etc.). . The Canadian Transport Safety Office very quickly traced the sequence of the accident on its site (read here). But it is certain that this accident will not remain without fundamental traces. In a way, despite the magnitude of the disaster, we escaped the worst. Imagine in a much more populated area, a city with buildings...

Questions galore in Canada... 

It's a whole system that will have to be reviewed, whether in terms of emergency management or the organization of the railway, or even security checks. And a series of questions are being asked, in Canada, but also in Europe. Can we run trains loaded with oil or explosive materials in the middle of our cities? Could this disaster happen again elsewhere, in Europe in particular? Are our services able to respond? For the moment, on the side of the European Commission, we are very attentive. Even if the subject is not officially approached.

... Consequences in Europe?

The spokesperson for the Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas, thus answered a written question from B2 that we cannot “speculate” for the moment. But " as soon as the causes are clarified, it will (of course) be necessary to study the consequences for the rail network of the European Union and what we can do to reduce the risk of a similar accident occurring in the European Union”.

(*) The city is twinned with Dourdan in the Paris region

(**) We cannot invoke objective explanations for this undercover: same timing of the disaster, information and images available... The only explanation is that one takes place in San Francisco (USA) and the other in a small village elsewhere in the world.