Mystery Illness on Train Claims One Life, 6 Others Being Treated

UPDATED:

A Via Rail passenger train, en route from Vancouver to Toronto, Canada is under quarantine, after a 60-year-old woman died from a mysterious flu-like ailment. Another passenger was airlifted to hospital, while five others with similar symptoms are being treated on the train.

“However, the death of the 60-year-old woman does not appear to be connected to the other six passengers who became ill, said Rob Knox, detachment commander at the Ontario Provincial Police in South Porcupine.”

I can’t wait to find out what happened here. I originally suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, but that’s obviously not the case.

Constable Marc Depatie said in an interview that officials were still trying to determine what caused the illnesses on the train and how they are linked to the fatality. “We don’t know if the element is viral or bacterial or a case of food poisoning.”

We’ll find out eventually, I hope.

The train was carrying 264 passengers and 30 crew members.

[sources: City News and The Globe and Mail]

UPDATE, May 10, 2008:

“The ill passenger, who was airlifted to the Timmins and District Hospital, was assessed and found not to have an infectious disease …”

“The dead woman … had pre-existing health conditions, and the five ill passengers who were kept in isolation were sick when they boarded the train in Jasper, Alta.”

The train was allowed to leave and all on board, except for the dead woman, are expected to recover.

[source: thestar.com]

UPDATE, May 11, 2008:

Ontario police have identified the dead woman as Brenda Buckley of South Africa, who was 43—not 60. And an autopsy has determined that she died of natural causes.

[source: canada.com]

 

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