When I heard about the tragedy in Quebec, I couldn’t help but think about the case of the Tellez family, who were victims of a similar train derailment and explosion in Rockford, Illinois in 2009. In that case 74 tankers filled with ethanol derailed.
Our firm represented Mr. Tellez and the estate of his wife, who died as she ran on fire from their car. Mr. Tellez suffered serious injuries from the resulting explosion. In the Quebec train derailment and explosion, it’s early in the investigation but it will be interesting to see if there were several breakdowns in railroad procedure that led to the derailment as we found in the Tellez case. Here's a link to a story written by Montreal Gazette reporter Janet Bagnall, who explores whether injury lawsuits filed in connection with the Quebec derailment could be filed in Chicago. Read full story here.
