Railway blames train derailment in British Columbia on washed out beaver dam

BURNABY, British Columbia – A Canadian National Rail spokeswoman says heavy rainfall led to a coal train derailment in British Columbia.

Emily Hamer said Sunday that a downpour caused a beaver dam to wash out, spilling large amounts of water onto the tracks, causing the train to jump the tracks in Burnaby on Saturday. No injuries were reported.

Hamer says seven cars went off the rails — three of them were lying on their sides while four remained upright.

Coal spilled into a nearby creek that feeds into Burnaby Lake, but Hamer could not say how much.

The train is owned by Canadian Pacific Rail, but the tracks and the crew are from Canadian National Rail.

Hamer says CN Rail is leading the cleanup and that the tracks should be operational by Sunday afternoon.