Enzo Aquarius Posted May 9, 2008 Report Share Posted May 9, 2008 A Via Rail train is currently under quarantine near Timmins after a woman suffered flu-like symptoms and died onboard: http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_22540.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom1122 Posted May 9, 2008 Report Share Posted May 9, 2008 A Via Rail train is currently under quarantine near Timmins after a woman suffered flu-like symptoms and died onboard:http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_22540.aspx It's the Toronto bound Canadian, and I'm guessing it's near Gogama, Ontario which is 70 minutes by bus from Timmins and the closest VIA comes to serving Timmins. (I had rode the Canadian from Toronto to Gogama in 2006 and transferred to a bus to get to Timmins.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YRT-Guy Posted May 9, 2008 Report Share Posted May 9, 2008 meh, probably food related. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YRT-Guy Posted May 9, 2008 Report Share Posted May 9, 2008 It's the Toronto bound Canadian, and I'm guessing it's near Gogama, Ontario which is 70 minutes by bus from Timmins and the closest VIA comes to serving Timmins. (I had rode the Canadian from Toronto to Gogama in 2006 and transferred to a bus to get to Timmins.) The train is currently in Foleyet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo Aquarius Posted May 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2008 Interestingly enough, this news story made it on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/05/...n.ap/index.html The mention of 'SARS' probably was the kicker for it to reach CNN. I'm thinking it's either food related, or a secondary illness (pneumonia) from the flu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallspy Posted May 9, 2008 Report Share Posted May 9, 2008 Authorities are now saying that the death of the one passenger (claimed to be mid-60's) is unrelated to the illnesses affecting the other passengers. Train is expected to continue its voyage later this evening. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tranzit Posted May 9, 2008 Report Share Posted May 9, 2008 Weird story--made particularly more weird by this accompanying photo showing "a train runs through Canada"! http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080509/...l/train_illness Hey, when and where did Via start running high-speed French trains! :angry: Jeez, I gotta get on board one of those! Just where the hell is the nearest station! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YRT-Guy Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_22553.aspx Train Finally En Route To Toronto After Coincidental Illness Scare Friday May 9, 2008 CityNews.ca Staff What initially looked to be a frightening infectious disease outbreak that led to the death of one woman aboard a Via Rail train turned out to be a remarkable series of unconnected coincidences, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams explained during a Friday afternoon press conference. The elderly woman died during the train ride from Vancouver to Toronto, but health officials say she likely didn't have an infectious disease. Six other passengers also fell ill, with the most serious being rushed to hospital with a respiratory ailment of some sort. Officials, however, believe that passenger was suffering from a pre-existing condition, and the five others who were reportedly ill with flu-like symptoms were all determined to have been feeling sick before they boarded the train. Williams says the death and illnesses seemed to be "a confluence of two or three events" and were unrelated. The train was initially halted in the northern Ontario hamlet of Foleyet at about 8:30 Friday morning. It was on day three of a trip from Vancouver to Toronto and was carrying about 264 passengers and 30 crew members. "One of the passengers died suddenly while onboard the train," Williams confirmed. "While the cause of death continues to be under investigation, it has been determined that the deceased did most likely not have an infectious disease. "Another passenger was airlifted to the Timmins area hospital. That passenger underwent medical assessment and it has been determined that person also does not have infectious disease. Another five passengers who also felt ill were isolated and assessed onboard the train. "Their symptoms were determined to be minor, with no high temperature or breathlessness indicated, and they're in stable condition. The origins of the illness that caused the passenger death is unknown at this time. "They actually were not connected, as we found out." Const. Marc Depatie of the Foleyet OPP said that the female passenger was picked up in Jasper, Alberta with a tour group and is 60 years of age. It's not known if she was travelling with family. "The woman who had expired made her way onto the train with pre-existing health issues," Const Depatie explained, but it's not yet known what caused her death. There was a doctor on board the train who attempted to treat her. After she died, he focused on other passengers with the mystery symptoms. Health Canada and the Ministry of Health are continuing to monitor the situation. But the long day onboard that train for the hundreds of remaining passengers just got a lot longer. It's finally en route to Toronto but isn't expected to reach its intended destination until 8am Saturday morning. It was supposed to arrive at 7:30pm Friday night. Why is it taking so long? "There is quite a bit of congestion out on the track, due to the fact that all rail traffic was stopped today," explains spokesperson Catherine Kaloutsky. "But as the train is en route, all passengers are in good spirits, we have been keeping them informed and keeping them comfortable during the day." VIA says passengers were given a free dinner and will get a breakfast without charge before the train hits Union Station, to thank them for their patience. Kaloutsky insists it was a major inconvenience but that all the emergency protocols worked just as they originally planned them. The storm of media attention was somewhat shocking for residents of the small Ontario town. "The whole place is being overrun with ambulances and police cars, and we've got helicopters," said Deborah DesRochers, chairwoman of the town. Residents like 53-year-old Leo DesRochers, stopped by to get a closer look. "It's creating quite a bit of excitement, it's really rolling in here," he said. "There's lots of people standing around, lots of police, and they're handling it with white gloves. They're being pretty careful about it, saying we don't know what it is but we're being really cautious about it." If you know someone on board, call 1-877-747-0707. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tranzit Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 A creepy set of circumstances indeed, and spookily reminds me of this film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074292/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAverageJoe Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 I heard of this when I was in Cuba via BBC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttcgeek Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 Well, the woman who died, died of natural causes. The six have by diagnosed with flu-like illnesses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallspy Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 The six have by diagnosed with flu-like illnesses. Not flu-like illnesses. They had the flu. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAverageJoe Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 Not flu-like illnesses. They had the flu.Dan lol science dont lie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tranzit Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Weird story--made particularly more weird by this accompanying photo showing "a train runs through Canada"!http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080509/...l/train_illness Hey, when and where did Via start running high-speed French trains! Jeez, I gotta get on board one of those! Just where the hell is the nearest station! Haha! Somebody at Yahoo switched the pic from what looked like a French Eurostar high-speed train to an old steam loco. Too bad. I sure would have liked to board that Eurostar from Montreal to Toronto--a 30-minute ride, no doubt! We should live so long to see that, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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