Video of several youths climbing between and underneath the cars of a temporarily stopped freight train has sparked concern in B.C., where some worry that the incident could have resulted in death or serious injury.
The video, which was recorded in Fort Langley and posted online Sunday, has been viewed more than 157,000 times. Several children can be seen climbing across the couplings between the cars and, at one point, two boys appear to be climbing under the train, approximately five seconds before it lurches into motion. The train’s bell can be heard ringing throughout the clip, right up until the moment when it starts moving again.
“Just witnessed this in Fort Langley,” Facebook user Kelly Fredrick wrote in the video caption. She also tagged several news organizations, CN Rail and Langley RCMP in the post. “If my kid was doing this I’d want to know!”
Fredrick told CTV Vancouver that she recorded the incident in an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of such behaviour.
“If that was my child and they were putting themselves in harm(‘s way), I would be heartbroken,” she said.
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Seventy-two people were killed by trains in Canada last year, while another 44 were seriously injured, security advocates say.
Sarah Mayes, national director of Operation Lifesaver, says people often underestimate the dangers of interacting with a stopped train.
“It’s a common misconception that the engineer will know I’m here and he or she will not start the train up while I’m climbing on it,” she told CTV Vancouver. “That’s simply not the case.”
Cindy Murphy, who lives near the tracks where the video was filmed, says it’s unusual for a train to stop there. CN Rail and CP Rail both run trains through the area, she added.
Fredrick says she’s just glad the incident didn’t cause any serious harm.
“Even if it had rolled or shifted slightly they would have been thrown off,” she said.
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Breanna Karstens-Smith
