Thank you for pointing that out, M Palmer!
Here is the latest as of about 1PM PDT followed by the original CBC article:
Three arrested in train derailment
WebPosted Fri Apr 13 15:44:01 2001
STEWIACKE, N.S. - Police have arrested three male youths in connection with Thursday's train derailment in rural Nova Scotia.
The three, who are all from the area, are expected to be charged with willful damage to property which may have endangered people's lives.
Police say the boys, whose ages and names were not released, are being interviewed at separate detachments in the area and all have lawyers. Officials say they were all picked up by 1 p.m. local time.
"They are alleged to have affected the equipment," said RCMP Const. Rick Head.
He said while talking to witnesses, police were told about three youths who were spotted leaving the scene shortly before the derailment.
Earlier, police said they had launched a criminal investigation to determine whether someone tampered with a switch located within metres of the accident.
Six of the injured are still in hospital
Senior CN official Keith Heller said investigators have discovered that the lock on the switch had been removed since it was inspected Thursday morning and found in proper working order.
"We tested the system (and) the system was operating properly," he said. "A significant focus of that investigation is on that switch."
The lock controls a lever on the switch that directs trains from the main rail line to a side track behind a nearby agricultural feed store.
"We are just actively pursuing it at this time and trying to determine whether it was an accident or a criminal act," said RCMP Cpl. Chris Paley. "Foul play has not been ruled out."
Crews were still sifting through the crash scene on Friday morning
No one was killed when 10 of 14 cars of the passenger train derailed in the centre of Stewiacke, a small farming community, smashing through the feed store. Twenty-four people were taken to hospitals with a variety of injuries including broken bones.
Six people remain in hospital, including a rail employee who suffered a punctured lung.
"The building appeared to raise," said Don Wood, who was waiting on customers in the feed store when the train crashed into it. "All three of us ran out the main doors into the street."
FROM APRIL 12, 2001: Sabotage not ruled out in N.S. Via train crash
The feed store was at the end of a short spur track, which CN Rail says was still active and well maintained.
Gwen Fulmer was on the phone when the train rumbled into town, and landed just metres from her home.
"I heard the train coming," she said. "It was exceptionally loud. I looked out the window and I saw the train going through the building."
Most of the passengers got out of the wreck on their own, but a dozen were trapped inside for several hours as firefighters cut them out of a car.
The train had 109 passengers and 14 crew members on board as it left Halifax headed for Montreal.
One of the cars rammed into an agricultural feed store
For more information, relatives of passengers were advised to call Via Rail at 1-877-747-0707.
Rail traffic in Canada has increased by three per cent since 1999, but the rate of accidents on the rail system has decreased by 10 per cent.
Written by CBC News Online staff