“Suddenly, there was a bang or two and the brakes slammed on, and the train actually split,” said a driver who witnessed the derailment.
A train derailment near Gull Lake, Sask. surprised residents and motorists Sunday evening as multiple cars fell and twisted off the tracks just a mile east of town.
“The train had beat me to the crossing, so I was just waiting for it to pass,” said Lebastard. “And right after the middle engine passed was when everything started happening.
Once everything had come to a screeching halt, Lebastard drove back down the highway to get a better view.
“The back engine was left on the rails with about six or eight cars before the pileup, and its lights were still on,” he said. “After that, there was about 15 cars that were either totally demolished, or off the tracks, or partially off the tracks, and you could see the inside of some of those cars. But it was just potash cars.”
“Detours will be in place until the highway can be cleared,” the RCMP said in a statement. “This is anticipated to take several hours.”
Swift Current Rural RCMP and Canadian Pacific Railway Police were on-site on Sunday evening, and asked drivers to “slow down and follow all directions provided by first responders.”
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