Lac-Megantic,Quebec 유조차 탈선 폭발: 현대인은 위험속에서 살고 있다는 증거.

Lac-Megantic은 주민 6000 명이 살고 있는 외곽 동네로서 주로 은퇴한 Senior들이 모여사는 평화로운 마을이었었다. 이마을 한가운데에는 MM & A(Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway)회사의 화물열차들이 바삐 통과하는 곳이라고 한다.

그런데 이곳을 관통하던 화물열차에 연결되여 있던 유조차량이 탈선하면서 온동네를 불바다로 만들어 버렸고, 확인된 사망자만 20명, 그리고 실종된 사람이 30 이상이라고 하는데, 생존해 있을 확율은 거의 없다고 언론은 발표하고 있다.  이숫자는 계속 늘어날 전망이라고 한다.

캐나다 경찰은, 이화물열차의 기관사에 대해 Criminal Charge 할 계획이라고 한다.
문제는 이런 엄청난 사고를 놓고, 책임자로 기관사 한명을 Aim 하여 어물어물 넘어갈려는 세상돌아가는 세태가 무섭다.  흔히 한국에서 정치꾼들이 하는 말이 생각난다.

"몸통은 손댈 생각도 못하고, 깃털하나만 잡고, 그가 전체의 책임자인것 처럼....." 라고.

문제는 북미 대륙을 관통하는 화물차들은 보통 100량 아니면 200량정도까지 기관차 2대 3대에 연결시켜 화물을 운송하는데, 기관사 혼자서 감당하고 있다는것이다.  경비를 줄이기위한 골육지책 같은데.....사고가 발생치 않았을때는 경비절감이 되겠지만,  한번 사고가 발생하면 그피해액은 9/11 정도거나 그이상으로 거대하다.  돈 몇푼 절약을 위해 생명의 존귀함을 경시하는 현세태의 얄팍한 상혼이 몇사람에 의해 좌지우지 돼고 있는게 문제인것 같다.

이회사의 화장 Edward Burkhart는 "이번 사고 화물차의 기관사는 오랜경험을 갖고 있으며 그동안 사고의 기록없이 임무를 충실히 해온 모범 기관사 였다"라고 일단은 기자회견에서 추겨 세웠다.   그이유는 '우리회사는 능력있고 유능한 기관사를 확보하고 있다'라는 간접적인 암시를 한것으로 이해가 됐다.   그리고  바로 '해당 기관사를 이번사고직후 책임을 물어 월급없이 보직해임조치했다'라고 했다.  과연 회사운영책임자다운 발상이었다.    그러나 그의 그런 발언을 칭찬은 커녕, 이런 사고를 책임질 위치에 있는 그가 현장에는 오히려 퀘백주 수상보다 더 늦게 나타난 무성의를 면전에서 성토하고 비난 했음은 어쩌면 당연지사가 아니었을까?

11량만 Brake를 걸었었다고 하는데,  그게 진실게임의 핵심일것 같다.  내가 알기로는 기관차 자체만을 제동시키는 단독 Brake 시스템이 있고,  또 기관차에 연결된 모든 차량을 동시에 제동을 거는 시스템을 작동시키는  Lever를  Locomotive Engineer가 조작했을 것이다.   모든 열차나 화물차는 정차시 전체를 Brake해 놓는게 정석으로 알고 있기 때문이다.  만약에 각화물차량에 장착되여 있는 Brake System이 고장나서 작동이 안됐을때는 예외가 될수 있겠지만,  사고난 차량의 자체 Brake 기능이 오작동했다는 보고는 못보았다. 

사고는 캐나다에서 나고, 회사는 미국에 있고.....
오바마 대통령까지 사고에 대한 애도의 뜻을 표하는 것을 뉴스에서 보았다.   그의 뉴스발표의 본뜻이 피해를 입은 당사자는 물론이고, 사건처리에 과연 몸통, 깃털 구별없이 책임자의 문책을 솜방망이로 하지 말고, 모두가 납득할수 있는 공명한 법의 잣대를 활용하라는 강한 메세지가 담겨 있음을  가슴속 깊이 느껴졌으면 한다.

현대를 사는 세대는 바다,하늘, 그리고 땅, 그어디에도 평상시에는 편리하게 우리 인간들이 이용할수 있는 지혜의 산물이 눈부시게, 하루가 다르게 발전하고 있음을 보고 느끼고 또 이용도 한다.   이편리함에 한치라도  소흘이 해서는 안되는 Safety에 대해서는 꾕가리만 울리는 식의 요란한 허풍은 떨어대기는 하나 실제로 알맹이는 항상 비어 있다는 느낌을 사고가 났을때  꼭 느낀다.  돈 몇푼 아껴서 경영 잘했다는, 그래서 발생한 이득금을 본인의 주머니에 합법적으로 쑤셔 넣으려는 약살바른 살림꾼들의 천박한 운영기술의 한단면을, 영구적으로 치료할 처방은 연구의 대상이 아니고, 며칠이 지난후 사고의 충격이 뇌리에서 사라지면 다시 역사속으로 깊이 쳐박혀 버린다.   어찌 보면 보이지 않는 창살로 옴짝 달싹 못하게,  필연적인  현대사회의 문명의 이기가 꽉 얽어 매고 있다는  그현장의 가운데에 모두가 위험하게 우뚝 서 있다는 것이다.   다음 타겟은 어디에 있을까?  긴장된다.



http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/07/11/lac-megantic-quebec-train-explosion-investigation.html


http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/10/world/americas/canada-runaway-train/index.html?hpt=hp_t1#cnn-disqus-area

Railroad CEO heckled in ravaged Quebec town

By Joe Sterling, CNN

updated 2:11 AM EDT, Thu July 11, 2013

Source: CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• At least 20 dead, 30 missing and "most probably" dead, police say
• Railway CEO casts doubt on engineer's story
• "They should put that guy in prison," heckler says
• 72 unsecured oil tank cars roared into Lac-Megantic Saturday, killing at least 15

Lac-Megantic, Quebec (CNN) -- The head of the railway whose runaway train devastated a small Quebec town cast doubt on his engineer's story Wednesday as he arrived to face insults from survivors and harsh questions from reporters.

Edward Burkhardt said the engineer has been suspended without pay and faces a criminal investigation by Canadian authorities.

He said the engineer reported to railroad managers that he set 11 hand brakes on the train cars before they broke away from their engines, but "I think it's questionable whether he did."

"Our general feeling is now that is not true," said Burkhardt,chairman of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway. The engineer had worked for the MM&A for "many years" and "had a completely clear safety record up until Saturday," Burkhardt said.

Photos: Train derails, explodes in Canadian town

Police: Someone tampered with train

Canadian police widen train investigation

Death toll rises in train explosion

Most of the 73-car train derailed in the center of Lac-Megantic early Saturday, and tank cars full of oil exploded and burned. Quebec provincial authorities have found 20 bodies, and 30 more are missing "and most probably dead," Quebec Provincial Police Capt. Michel Forget said Wednesday.

Graphic: Runaway train devastates Canadian town

Authorities have said those still missing may have been vaporized by the resulting inferno. The number of those unaccounted for dropped from the 45 reported earlier Wednesday, and Forget said the numbers could fluctuate as the investigation continues.

The railway cars strewn throughout the center of the town 6,000 have barely stopped smoldering, and the area around them remained cordoned off Wednesday afternoon.

Hundreds of evacuees, mostly older residents, were still taking shelter in a local school, said Myrian Marotte, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Red Cross.

In the beginning, there were 2,000 people who were forced to flee their homes, Marotte said

"Everyone here knows someone who was evacuated," she said. Nevertheless, she added, "You see a lot of solidarity and resilience."

A fair bit of anger was also on display as Burkhardt arrived Wednesday afternoon. Two middle-aged men shouted at him as he spoke with reporters, calling him an obscene name and challenging him to walk into the heart of the disaster.

One of the men, Pierre L'Heureux, told CNN he knew at least half the people who were dead or missing.

"They should put that guy in prison," L'Heureux said. "He's a murderer ... he should be in prison."

Burkhardt also was likely to face a chilly reception from Mayor Colette Roy-Laroche.

Burkhardt said he was trying to arrange meetings with the mayor, who would not tell reporters Wednesday whether she would meet with him.

Burkhardt said he felt "personally, absolutely rotten" about the crash and said his railroad would "stand up to our responsibility." As chairman, "I guess it's my role to collect all this criticism," he said.

"We think we have plenty of responsibility," he said. But whether the company bears "total responsibility" for the crash is "yet to be determined," he added.

The cars broke free from an MM&A train as it was parked in the nearby town of Nantes early Saturday, plunging down a seven-mile incline into Lac-Megantic.

Firefighters in Nantes had been called to put out a fire on the train before the cars broke away, and Burkhardt said those firefighters may have shut down systems on the train's five locomotives that contributed to the disaster.

"We felt this probably had an important part to play in this tragedy," he said.

The fire department in Nantes has rejected the notion.

The engineer had parked the train and set hand brakes on all five engines and then checked into a hotel for the night. Firefighters reported the blaze to a track maintenance man, who alerted the company to the incident, Burkhardt said.

The engines and nine other cars remained behind when the rest of the train broke away sometime later. They stopped a quarter of a mile away from their original parking spot in Nantes.

Police: Evidence criminal act may have led to train crash

Investigators have asked fire crews to stop spraying down the wreckage to preserve as much of the remaining evidence as possible. Quebec police spokesman Benoit Richard said Wednesday, "We are no longer treating this as just an accident."

Some of the evidence led investigators to believe a "criminal act" may have contributed to the train crash, Forget said Tuesday.

But Forget said authorities would lay no blame until the investigation shows exactly what happened.

All businesses and factories in the affected region that are able were reopening Wednesday morning, Roy-Laroche said. She said the Red Cross would begin distributing vouchers to those returning home for food and other essential items, with the funds for the vouchers donated by people in the community and businesses in the region.

The mayor urged tourists not to cancel their reservations in the area, noting that some 300,000 people visit the region between May and October every year. And she thanked people from around the world who sent messages in the aftermath of the tragedy.

"All these messages give us the strength to face this catastrophe," she said.

Quebec Premier Pauline Marois said the provincial government would provide $25 million in emergency assistance immediately, with another $25 million to help with reconstruction efforts.

"It's small comfort, we know," Marois said. But she said the government hopes rebuilding will become "a mobilizing force" for the town.

Tuesday, some 1,200 residents were allowed to return to their homes in the area. Among them was Michel Gagnon, who was eating lunch Wednesday on his patio, a few blocks from the edge of the cordon.

Gagnon said Lac-Megantic's downtown had lost everything, but within a few years, "everything will be back up."

CNN's Paula Newton, Ben Brumfield, Holly Yan, Umaro Djau, Jonathan Mann, Pierre Meilhan and Deanna Hackney contributed to this report.