Drunken man survives after 26 rail cars thunder over him

BY STEPHANE MASSINON, POSTMEDIA NEWS

CALGARY — A drunken Alberta man who passed out on the train tracks was somehow uninjured after being run over by a train on Sunday evening.

The man, from Crowsnest Pass, Alta., was spotted between the rails just outside of Elko in southeast British Columbia by the Canadian Pacific train conductor who sounded the horn and hit the emergency brakes.

The train couldn't stop in time and rode over the man. By the time it stopped, he was found by CP personnel under the 26th rail car.

"The guy seemed to wake up and he got up, grabbed his beer and headed on his way," said RCMP Sgt. Dave Dubnyk.

Unbelievably, he avoided major injuries.

"He's of fairly slight stature and the train went completely over top of him. Amazingly, I don't know how you wouldn't wake up even being that passed out drunk, how you wouldn't wake up from that train rumbling over top of you with the brakes screeching."

Canadian Pacific police are investigating and no charges have been laid against the man.

"There's been tragic stories in the past of people passing out on railway tracks and they lose limbs or their lives," said Dubnyk.

"I've never seen the likes of it. Until this, I wouldn't have known that a person could actually fit under (there) especially the engine of the train. They look like there's very minimal clearance."

CP spokesman Kevin Hrysak said the conductor tried to alert the man by "every means possible."

Crews will have access to counselling.

"These types of incidents can have an extremely profound effect on the train crews," he said.

They are the first on scene and see the effect of collisions.

"Thankfully this didn't result in more serious or fatal injuries," said Hrysak.

smassinon@calgaryherald.com

Calgary Herald


Comment: One of our own out on a tear, I guess? :-) Some people have a guardian angel and they don't even know it? This one made sure he kept his head down. ;-) Lucky for him he did!



The will to be stupid is a very powerful force, but there are always alternatives.