Global News What Happened To...?
History
On this episode of the Global News What Happened To...? journalist Erica Vella revisits the 2013 Lac Megantic train derailment.
In the early hours of July 6, 2013, a train carrying petroleum crude oil crashed into the centre of Lac Megantic, a small town in Quebec.
The downtown core erupted in flames; 47 people perished, 2,000 people were evacuated from their homes. The tragedy marks one of the worst rail disasters in Canadian history.
The incident happened at 1:15 a.m. July 6, 2013, when a runaway train with 72 oil tankers — owned and operated by the now-bankrupt railway company Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway Ltd. (MMA) — barreled into the town at over 100 km/h.
Along with the 47 deaths, much of the town was also destroyed.
The Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation into the derailment and found 18 factors led to the Lac-Megantic disaster, including poor training, mechanical problems and sloppy safety oversight, a Transportation Safety Board (TSB) investigation concluded.
Three men, Tom Harding, Richard Labrie and Jean Demaitre, were charged following the derailment, but in 2018 a jury had found the men not guilty.
On this episode of Global News What Happened To...?, Erica Vella visits the town of Lac Megantic to speak with people who witnessed the tragedy over seven years ago. She describes what the town looks like know and finds out if any changes were made to ensure a derailment like this never happens again.
Contact:
Twitter: @ericavella
Email: erica.vella@globalnews.ca
If you enjoy Global News What Happened To...?, please take a minute to rate it on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts, tell us what you think and share the show with your friends.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Vancouver Riots | 8
Toronto Bathhouse Raids | 7
TikTok security concerns | 6
Introducing... Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry | The Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash | 1
TikTok text-to-speech voice | 5
Ukrainian Airlines FLIGHT PS752 | 4
Google Glass | 3
The Thai Cave Rescue Part 2 | 2
The Thai Cave Rescue Part 1 | 1
Season 3 Trailer
A look back at season 2 | 22
Zebra Mussels | 21
Napalm Girl | 20
Toronto Van Attack: INCEL
Seven Minutes of Terror: The Toronto Van Attack Part 2 | 18
Seven Minutes of Terror: The Toronto Van Attack Part 1 | 17
The Quebec Mosque Shooting Update | 16
West Africa Ebola outbreak | 15
Crime Beat presents: NCR from Greyhound to Brentwood | 14
Crystal Pepsi | 13
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Crime Beat
Ongoing History of New Music
Nighttime
13 Hours Inside the Nova Scotia Massacre