The scene of a VIA passenger train derailment near Katrime, Man., is shown in this Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019 handout photo.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - RCMP
December 31, 2019 - 1:29 PM
MACGREGOR, Man. - VIA Rail says an investigation is underway to determine why a passenger train went off the tracks west of Winnipeg with a dozen people on board.
Emergency crews assessed seven passengers and five crew members at the scene, but RCMP say they did not appear to be seriously injured.
The derailment happened about 6:45 a.m. roughly 15 kilometres north of the community of MacGregor.
Train 692 was travelling on the Hudson Bay line from Churchill, Man., to Winnipeg.
Photos posted on Twitter by the RCMP show at least one locomotive on its side with about five cars behind it still upright, but some tilted to the side.
The Transportation Safety Board says the train was going 100 km/h at the time, and that two locomotives and one car derailed.
Alex Fournier, a spokesman with the TSB, said an investigator was to arrive at the scene Tuesday afternoon.
VIA Rail Canada spokesman Karl-Philip Marchand Giguere said in an email that the cause of the derailment is under investigation.
"We are working with authorities to determine exactly what happened."
He said passengers and their families can get more information through the company's emergency line at 1-877-747-0707.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2019.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2019