The cleanup and traffic diversions continue after a freight train derailed near Craven, Sask., Tuesday night.
Highway 20 remains closed in the area.
Emergency crews rushed to the scene in extremely cold conditions to find wagons crushed on top of each other along the tracks. They continued to work through the abysmally freezing temperatures overnight and into Wednesday morning.
Witnesses, including members of the Lumsden Fire Department and the town of Craven, posted videos on their social media pages showing a dozen CP train cars stacked on top of each other against the dead of night.
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Maria Fuller was traveling home with her sisters from Regina to Earl Gray when they saw vehicles making U-turns near the train tracks.
Once they found the wreckage, they called 9-1-1 and stopped to take some photos before backtracking down the dark, and in some slippery sections, road towards Regina.
In his Facebook video, Fuller describes the scene of the derailment, saying: “It looks like the train cars are stacked 40 feet in the air.” He later said: “I think another really interesting thing was the way the cars were stacked. It looked a lot like an old car lot with lots of cars lined up, but just stacked, and it was an amazing, crazy place. “
Anyone, like Fuller and his sisters, who were traveling on Highway 20, were forced to make alternative travel plans. A detour from Highway 20 to Highway 6 and then Highway 99 added approximately 45 minutes to your commute.
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Craven Mayor and volunteer firefighter Scott Montgomery lives on a hill overlooking the town. He says: “It was around 9:30 at night. I heard a very loud screech, got up and looked out the window through my binoculars and saw that the carriages had more or less wrinkled like a toy train. I immediately called 9-1-1. “
Montgomery says emergency crews arrived at the scene within 10 minutes. The Village of Craven had a truck in 30 minutes where Montgomery bundled up to help stop and redirect traffic away from the derailment, preventing passengers from being trapped behind the closure.
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In an email sent to Global News, the Canadian Pacific Railway confirmed that the freight train was carrying potash when it derailed shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday night.
CP immediately dispatched teams and resources that continue to clean up the crash site.
The cause of the derailment is under investigation. There were no reports of injuries and there are no public safety concerns.
Highway 20 has been closed since the incident Tuesday night, and crews hope to reopen it sometime Wednesday night.
Reference-globalnews.ca