Tuscany C-Train derailment ejected passengers from their seats

A passenger who was aboard the C-Train that crashed through a fence and derailed at the Tuscany LRT on Tuesday says he's"lucky" he wasn't seated at thefront of the train,where the driver was.

"She was definitely in a lot worse shape than the passengers," said Dan Duplessis."When she was brought out there was a lot of blood."

The freelancephotographer had some his equipment with him, andtook several eyewitness photos.

The three-car C-Train was going 60 km/h when it left the tracks and struck a power pole.

A female passenger was in the second car and Duplessis and another male passenger were seated in the third car, at the very back of the train.

"It came to a halt very quickly with a crashing sound, ah, throwing us across the car," he told the Calgary Eyeopener on Tuesday.

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None of the passengers were injured, but weights from the power pole crashed through the windshield, and landedin the cab just missing the operator.

"The last car was actually on the track still, the other two were derailed on the gravel," he said.

"It was like a boat beaching itself."

Train going wrong direction

Instead of heading back towardsdowntown Calgary, the driver drove west crashing into the end of the red line.

"It was fairly confusing at first. I assumed that the train was just adjusting on the platform, pulling ahead a little bit. But it picked up speed fairly rapidly as if it was going to another station," Duplessis said.

He pushed the emergency help button on the train, but after it rang unanswered for several minutes he called Calgary Transit on his phone, to alert them.

The city has not determined the cause of the accident and an investigation is underway.

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener