Netflix Investigating Use of Deadly Event Footage in ‘Bird Box’, ‘Travelers’

Netflix sensation Bird Box reportedly features real footage from a deadly rail crash in Canada, CBC News reports. According to the Canadian outlet, a pre-apocalypse scene in Sandra Bullock’s thriller uses footage from the Lac-Mégantic, Québec train crash to depict the “mass suicides” ravaging Europe, outraging survivors of the tragedy. Amid calls from the local mayor to “remove” the images, Netflix is investigating whether the footage is actually from the devastating crash.
However, Decider has learned that Netflix will be keeping the footage of the Lac-Mégantic crash in Bird Box. Moving forward, the company will be looking into doing things differently so as to avoid potentially-upsetting situations.
According to BuzzFeed News, the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster was one of the worst train crashes in Canadian history. In July 2013, a train transporting oil ran off the tracks, causing an explosion that killed 47 people and left the Québec town destroyed. Footage of the accident appears at around the 4:45 mark in Bird Box, when a pregnant Bullock and her sister (Sarah Paulson) watch the news at her loft apartment.

Lac-Mégantic Mayor Julie Morin told CBC News that she wants to prevent the tragedy from being used for entertainment purposes in any Netflix show or movie moving forward. “I don’t know if this is happening all the time, but we are looking for assurances from Netflix that… they are going to remove them,” said Morin. “You can be sure we are going to follow up on this, and our citizens are on our side.”

This isn’t the first time that footage of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster has appeared in a Netflix Original title. Just this week, similar footage of the event was found in the third season of the Canadian-produced Travelers, which hit the platform on December 14. The production company behind Travelers, Peacock Alley Entertainment, said that they acquired the footage from a stock image company called Pond5 and “weren’t aware of its specific source.”

“We sincerely apologize and had no intention to dishonour the tragic events of 2013,” Peacock Alley Entertainment President Carrie Mudd told CBC. “We are already working to replace the footage in the show.” Pond5 spokesperson Tina Witoshkin also issued a statement, telling BuzzFeed News that they “sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended, especially the victims and their families.” Witoshkin went on to say that Pond5 is “taking additional steps to correct the situation,” including “contacting all customers who have purchased any related clips” and “re-auditing content of this nature.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect Netflix’s plans for the footage featured in Bird Box.

Watch Bird Box on Netflix

Watch Travelers on Netflix