Woman dies, several ill as cross-Canada train quarantined in N. Ontario

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I am in canada now. " Rumour " has it that this is SARS.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080509/national/train_illness

Woman dies, several ill as cross-Canada train quarantined in N.

Ontario

53 minutes ago

By The Canadian Press

FOLEYET, Ont. - A woman in her 60s has died and several others have

fallen ill on a Via Rail passenger train that was halted in northern

Ontario Friday morning while en route from Vancouver to Toronto.

Ambulances, police and a helicopter scrambled to the tiny hamlet of

Foleyet after reports that as many as 10 passengers were suffering

from flu-like symptoms.

Deborah DesRochers, chairwoman of the town of 380 located about 100

kilometres southwest of Timmins, said the scene was chaotic as

emergency vehicles arrived on the scene.

" The whole place is being overrun with ambulances and police cars,

and we've got helicopters, " she said. " They've got the train

quarantined. They're trying to isolate what it is. "

Although police quarantined the train, which was carrying about 260

passengers and 30 crew members, at least one person was airlifted to

the Timmins and District Hospital.

The victim is a woman in her 60s who boarded the train with a group

of tourists in Jasper, Alta, said provincial police Const. Marc

Depatie.

A spokeswoman for Via Rail said the train departed Vancouver three

days ago and hadn't reported any problems before Friday.

Officials are still trying to determine exactly what caused the

illnesses on the train and whether the lone fatality is at all

related.

" We don't know if the element is viral or bacterial or a case of food

poisoning, " Depatie said.

The illnesses appeared to be contained to two train cars.

Not far from the town's train station is the Northern Lights

Restaurant, which was jammed with residents like 53-year-old Leo

DesRochers who stopped by to get a closer look at the scene.

" It's creating quite a bit of excitement, it's really rolling in

here, " he said of the mood in the bustling restaurant.

" 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. "

As the quarantine continued into the early afternoon, officials were

booking nearby accommodations in case passengers needed to stay

overnight.

The Air Ivanhoe lodge, just outside Foleyet, was completely booked to

hold 40 or 50 people, said owner Jeanne Theriault.

It's not the first time the tiny town has been through this kind of

event, said Theriault, who recalled a train derailment several years

ago that resulted in a complete evacuation.

" I just remember I had every bed filled and every pillow stuffed and

everybody using everything, " she said.

Officials with the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada

said in a statement that they have been made aware of incident and

are collaborating with provincial and regional counterparts to assess

the situation and take action as appropriate.

Provincial spokeswoman Laurel Ostfield said emergency professionals

are on the scene and local public health officials are engaged.