Worker's body was left alone in wilderness with 'bears, wolves, wolverines, foxes, coyotes and birds in the area’
An ongoing coroner's inquest into a fatal 2018 train derailment has exposed significant deficiencies in emergency response co-ordination and victim recovery procedures, raising concerns about workplace safety protocols for employees in remote locations, CBC reported.
The proceedings are looking into the death of Kevin Anderson, 38, a conductor with Hudson Bay Railway, who died after being trapped for nine hours in wreckage following a catastrophic derailment near Ponton, Manitoba, approximately 165 kilometres northeast of The Pas.
The incident occurred on Sept. 15, 2018, when the freight train he was conducting crossed track suspended over a washout.
Earlier, railway engineer Chris Rushton told the inquest he had no warning before the locomotive plunged into a washed‑out gap in the tracks, leaving him and Anderson trapped in a remote area with no working communications.
Delayed discovery, communication failures
The workers were discovered only by chance approximately two hours after the derailment when a civilian helicopter happened to fly overhead, according to CBC. Both Anderson and engineer Chris Rushton, now 67, were trapped and seriously injured, with non-functioning communication radios leaving them unable to call for help.
While RCMP officers arrived at the scene around 7 p.m., access was initially restricted due to concerns about leaking fuel and liquefied petroleum gas in the tankers, delaying the arrival of paramedics and trained personnel, according to the report.
The inquest – which began March 2 before Provincial Court Judge Timothy Killeen – heard testimony Monday from Anderson's mother, Debbie Leeper, who detailed critical failures in emergency response and family notification procedures.
CBC reported the crash involved more than 3,200 tonnes of steel stretched across 23 loaded cars travelling at 40 kilometres per hour that “came to a complete and sudden catastrophic stop in seconds.”
Leeper testified she wasn't notified of the derailment until 1:10 a.m. on Sept. 16 — more than nine hours after the crash. A Hudson Bay Railway office assistant told her that Anderson and Rushton were being taken to Thompson hospital for examination and would “likely be fine.”
In reality, Anderson had died at 12:50 a.m., 20 minutes before the family received the initial call, CBC noted.
“He was already gone when we received the call,” Leeper told the inquest, according to the report.
An autopsy report initially indicated Anderson bled to death after suffering “serious but survivable injuries,” though the medical opinion later changed to classify his death as inevitable given the circumstances. The railway company initially told the family Anderson died on impact, information that proved “far from the truth,” according to the report.
Snow Lake Fire Department Chief Cory Anaka echoed Leeper’s sentiments about communication gaps during the search for Anderson. Anaka appeared before the inquest earlier this week.
Abram Silver, a lawyer representing Anderson's family, asked Anaka: “It's important for the first responders to get as much relevant information as soon as they can, so they can marshal the resources before departing and make sure that they're checking all the boxes. Is that fair?
“And from your experience, that communication aspect — is that something that could be improved? Is that lacking? Would you benefit from a more robust communication process?”
Anaka replied: “Yes. Absolutely. For sure,” according to another CBC report.
Anaka said he was picked up by others in his fire department to head to the site that day. He wasn't at the department when the page came in from 911 and didn't know the train was hauling propane tanks until he got to the scene.
“Whether or not 911 knew if they needed gas detection or extrication or what, I think that's the only information that was given to me, was that we had two men trapped in the train,” he said, according to the report. “And I said, ‘OK, well, let's go.’”
Four-day body recovery delay
While Rushton was successfully extracted and airlifted to Winnipeg, Anderson's remains were left at the crash site for four days, the inquest heard from Leeper.
“Kevin was left alone with blood on his body, [and] bears, wolves, wolverines, foxes, coyotes and birds in the area,” Leeper testified, CBC reported. “How would anyone in this room or watching feel if that was your son or loved one left behind like that?”
The family learned of the body's location through a text message a funeral director received from a Hudson Bay Railway engineer while planning the funeral.
“This information should not be coming to the family from the funeral director, via a text he got from an HBR employee,” Leeper said, as reported by CBC.
Meanwhile, Leeper praised Jackie and Brad Gogal, and Warren Heidman, who were on the helicopter that spotted the crash site. The Gogals had passed over the derailment while collecting Heidman, a surveyor, and returned after he reported hearing a loud bang.
Brad Gogal landed in a creek bed and flew to Ponton to bring RCMP officers, while Jackie and Heidman stayed to comfort the trapped men.
Two RCMP officers were with Anderson when he died, according to the report.
The inquest is looking to determine the circumstances surrounding Anderson's death and review multi-agency emergency response co-ordination in remote settings.
Originally scheduled for December 2021, the proceedings were delayed several times due to disputes regarding the inquiry's scope and disclosure of RCMP evidence, according to CBC.
