Lac-Megantic train engineer speaks for first time, through lawyer; says he’s ‘devastated’

MONTREAL – The train engineer at the centre of the Lac-Megantic disaster investigation has finally spoken out — through his lawyer.

The attorney says Tom Harding is devastated by the events.

Lawyer Tom Walsh says his client is staying at an undisclosed location in the province, on his advice, to avoid the constant barrage of journalists at his Eastern Townships home.

Walsh says his client is “really down” and needs time to recover from the shock of the traumatic incident.

He says Harding has been co-operating fully with transportation authorities and Quebec provincial police and met with investigators last week as a witness to the event.

Walsh says Harding’s family and his union are providing support but his employer — the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway — has not shown any since the accident.

Harding’s role is a central question in ongoing investigations into the tragedy; his own company called him a hero one day, then announced the next that he had been suspended amid concerns about his role in the disaster.

One key question is whether the veteran railman applied the appropriate number of hand-brakes before ending his shift for the night.

Harding had finished work and left the train unattended to sleep at a local inn shortly before it barrelled into town and exploded, killing an estimated 50 people.

Walsh, a Sherbrooke, Que.-based attorney, says he was hired by the family last week.