The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 22

B-10 CbCitaiCUC, Montreal, Thursday, February 13, 193G Train death toll cut to 26: 3 people found Liability pacts may stick Via with crash costs a i 2 ''-HINTON. Alta. (CP) The number believed dead in last Saturday's collision between a Via Rail passenger train and a CN Rail freight train has been reduced to 26 from 29 by RCMP investigators. RCMP Sgt. Ray Munro said yesterday that at least one person formerly considered missing had walked away from the charred and twisted wreckage and two others thought to have been on the passenger train never boarded it.

Eight bodies had been removed from the debris near Hinton, a pulp-mill town in the Rocky Mountain foothills of west-central Alberta. Recovery crews used blow torches yesterday to cut apart a half-crushed passenger coach where officials expect to find 17 bodies. They are not yet sure where to find one other body believed to be a crewman's. The trains collided head-on 265 kilometres west of Edmonton. Officials said the 118-unit freight train, hauling grain, pipes, sulphur and other chemicals, passed a stop signal, rammed through a closed switch and pulled into the path of the 14-unit Via Rail Super Continental passenger train.

A fireball erupted from the locomotives' diesel fuel. damage suits and has already begun reimbursing travellers for lost luggage and medical bills, spokesman Cedric Jennings said. CN vice-president Russ Walker has said the Via train wasn't to blame for the accident, in which it was hit by a CN freight that apparently ran a stop signal. CN is preparing for lawsuits, but may get off lightly if CP Rail succeeds in a motion before the Federal Court of Canada arising from a 1983 accident. In 1983, five people died when a Via dayliner crashed into empty tank cars near Carstairs, because a CP Rail worker left open a switch into a siding.

CI' said Via should pay all ac-cidfcnt costs. Via appealed to the Canadun Transport Commission, which told CP to repair its own equipment and Via to pay other expenses. But CP asked the Federal Court to rule that Via should pay all costs. That motion has yet to be heard. Meanwhile, Via must rent CN locomotives to replace the two it and repair a third one OTTAWA (CP) The multi-million dollar cost of Saturday's Hinton, train crash that killed 26 people may fall on Canadian taxpayers because 10-year-old agreements leave Crown-owned Via Rail financially responsible for accidents even hen it is not at fault.

v. which needed $524 million in fedai operating subsidies last vajny tried to get Ottawa to fMvrite the agreements, which sw out whnt Via must pay CN and rp hj! for using their tracks. They say Via must p.v lor "any loss, expense or liability of whatsoever nature or kind ant howsoever sustained." So Via, on top of paying for re-pairing or replacing its own equipment, may have to pay for medical expenses or compensation for all those injured and killed; CN's destroyed locomotives and freight cars; track rebuilding and collision cleanup. Experts say the bill will be much higher than the $3 million to $5 million CN estimates. Via has insurance to cover Hinton wreckage: Passengers look out as Super Continental detours on new track.

Passenger train traffic resumed Tuesday morning on a detour track. Ross Walker, a senior vice-president of CN Rail, said an internal investigation into the disaster is concentrating on human error. Federal Transportation Minister Don Mazankowski has ordered a ju dicial inquiry and Canadian Transport Commission safety officials are also probing the rubble. Walker said investigators have no reason to believe alcohol was a factor in the crash but many factors, including alcohol, a heart attack and lack of sleep are being considered. In Ottawa, Les Benjamin, NDP transport critic, said news reports "are encouraging conclusions in advance of evidence" and people should await investigators' conclusions "before bringing even more distress upon mourning families." a (SilSQ rises gyf aoem already reduced 1 to 4) i A til I 1 I Mr 1 I 3 ft J.

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