Inquest to start in December in train conductor’s death in Ponton, Man. derailment

A mother from The Pas, Man. is preparing for an inquest into the death of her son in a train derailment more than three years ago.

A mother from The Pas, Man. is preparing for an inquest into the death of her son in a train derailment more than three years ago.

Kevin Anderson, 38, died of his injuries after he and a co-worker were trapped in the train for several hours.

It happened in September 2018 near Ponton, Man. about 150 kilometres southwest of Thompson.

In her home just outside The Pas, Anderson’s mom Debbie Leeper has been busy preparing for the inquest next month which she hopes provides answers on why her son ended up dying doing a job he loved.

“How could this have happened that someone suffered all these hours?” Leeper said in a recent interview. “Nine, nine-and-a-half hours and nobody went in. No medical intervention is the biggest issue in our minds because that would’ve given Kevin his best chance to live.”

Anderson was the conductor and his co-worker was the engineer on a Hudson Bay Railway train that derailed after going over a bridge that washed out in a remote area near Ponton at around 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 15, 2018.

Two hours later, the wreckage and the men pinned inside were discovered by a civilian helicopter flying overhead but it would be hours before medical help arrived.