Melfort, SK: driver & passenger wait 15 hours for rescue following

[jamesontheroad]

This sad story comes from the CBC in Saskatchewan, after the long weekend:

It took more than 15 hours before anyone realized two people in a vehicle were involved in a crash with a train near Melfort, Sask., Saturday night.

A 51-year-old woman was killed and a 49-year-old man was airlifted to a Saskatoon hospital. It happened southwest of Melfort at a marked train crossing.

A spokesperson for CN confirmed the crash happened around 11:30 p.m. CST Saturday evening. Police and emergency crews were not called to the scene until 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

CN said the crew was not aware of the collision because the vehicle struck the train about halfway back its length.

(Source)

This is the apparent location of the accident. The crossing is marked, but without lights.

Earlier reports (such as this one) reported the accident as having happened on Sunday afternoon. It appears now that the crash happened overnight, but wasn't discovered until the following afternoon.

As the victims were airlifted from Melfort, and I doubt the train blocked the crossing for fifteen hours without anyone noticing the wreckage, I'm assuming the crash happened as the train was rolling into Melfort, perhaps dragging the car away from the crossing. If the engineers were signing off for the night, it's possible they wouldn't have found the wreck until the next day.

 

[norfolkwesternhenry]

Sad, R. I. P. How did the crew not call the police immediately??

 

[CCC1007]

The car hit halfway down the length of the train, I'm sure the crew couldn't see them.