Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Collapsed Bridge Victims Identified; Judge Orders Cleanup Halt

A Glenview couple was crushed by debris from July 4's train derailment and subsequent bridge collapse. An order from a Cook County judge to stop work for 36 hours will allow attorneys for the family time to hire experts who will examine the scene.

Update July 6 at 12:45 pm. 

A Cook County judge has ordered a stop order on cleanup of from Wednesday’s derailment and subsequent bridge collapse, the Chicago Tribune reports. 

The bodies of Glenview’s Burton Lindner, 69, and his wife Zorine, 70, were found Thursday beneath the wreckage of the 138-car freight train debris.  The couple was crushed when the viaduct they were driving under collapsed following the train derailment near Willow and Shermer Roads July 4.

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Police and fire officials initial reported no injuries in the derailment, but officials are now saying there may be additional victims.

According to the Tribune, the judge's order to stop work for 36 hours will allow attorneys for the family time to hire experts and a videographer to examine the scene before a wrongful death action suit is filed.

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The personal injury and medical malpractice law firm of Fisher and LaMonica will be representing the Lindner family. 

Lindner was the founding and senior partner of Lindner & Lindner, a firm he started in 1975. Zorine was a social worker who previously worked at Homles Middle School in nearby Wheeling. 

A press conference will be held this afternoon at 2 p.m. Stay tuned to Patch for more details as they become available. 

To stay up to date as this story unfolds, "like" either Northbrook Patch or Glenview Patch on Facebook.

Update July 6 at 11:30 a.m.

The victims of the collapsed bridge have been identified and their family plans to file a wrongful death suit, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Burton Lindner, 69 and Zorine Lindner, 70 of the 100 block of Cornell Court in Glenview were crushed by debris in Wednesday's bridge collpase, officials said.

According to the Tribune, the family is planning legal action and attorneys for them appeared in court this morning. The Cook County judge granted their request that all clean-up work at the site be halted so that the family can send investigators to the scene, the article says.

A press conference will be held this afternoon. Stay tuned to Patch for more details as they become available. 

To stay up to date as this story unfolds, "like" either Northbrook Patch or Glenview Patch on Facebook.

Update July 6 at 9:40 a.m. 

According to the Cook County Medical Examiner, the victims found in the car beneath the rubble were a man in his 60s and a woman, age unknown. Identities remain undisclosed. 

Examinations for both victims are scheduled later today. 

Update July 5 at 5:35 p.m. 

A second body was found in the car buried in the train derailment debris, the Chicago Tribune reports

Original Story

. A few hours later, one body was recovered from the crushed vehicle. 

“We now have confirmation that one car traveling south under the Shermer Rd. overpass at the time of the derailment, approximately 1:30 p.m. yesterday, was crushed underneath the collapsed railroad bridge during the incident," Glenview Fire Chief Wayne Globerg said at the scene. "One body has been recovered from the automobile and recovery crews are working to determine if there is another. The identity of the unknown victim is not being released at this time.”

Due to the amount of debris at the site immediately after the bridge collapsed, recoverey crews were initially unsure if anyone was hurt.

“The car was discovered when Union Pacific crews were removing the derailed cars from the scene this morning at approximately 10," Globerg said. 

To stay up to date as this story unfolds, "like" either Northbrook Patch or Glenview Patch on Facebook.


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