This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/06/canada-lac-megantic-train-oil-fire

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Freight train derailment causes huge fire and evacuations in Canada Freight train derailment causes huge fire and evacuations in Canada
(about 1 hour later)
Thousands of residents in the Canadian town of Lac-Mégantic were evacuated early on Saturday, after a freight train carrying crude oil derailed, sparking a major fire. A large swath of a town in eastern Quebec was destroyed on Saturday after a train carrying crude oil derailed, sparking several explosions and forcing the evacuation of up to 1,000 people.
Several tanker cars of petroleum products exploded in the middle of the small town in the Canadian province of Quebec, in a blast that destroyed many buildings and sent flames hundreds of feet into the air. Police in Lac-Megantic, a lakeside town of about 6,000 people, said they had been unable to determine if there were any casualties. Fire officials said around 30 buildings in the town center were destroyed, some by the blast and others by the subsequent fire. Several people were reported missing but a Quebec provincial police lieutenant, Michel Brunet, said it was too early to say if there are any casualties in the town of Lac-Mégantic, which is about 155 miles east of Montreal.
"When you see the center of your town almost destroyed, you'll understand that we're asking ourselves how we are going to get through this event," a tearful town mayor, Colette Roy-Laroche, told a televised news briefing. The explosions ignited a blaze that sent flames shooting into the sky, and billowing smoke could be seen from several miles away hours after the derailment. Some of the train's 73 cars exploded and the fire spread to a number of homes in the lakeside town of 6,000 people, which is close to the border with Maine and Vermont.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said four pressurised tanker cars blew up after the train, which had 73 cars in all, came off the rails shortly after 1am. Fire officials said they feared more of the tanker cars were at risk of exploding. Around 1,000 people were evacuated from their homes. "When you see the center of your town almost destroyed, you'll understand that we're asking ourselves how we are going to get through this event," the town's mayor, Colette Roy-Laroche, told a televised news briefing. The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, tweeted: "Thoughts & prayers are with those impacted in Lac Megantic. Horrible news."
Lac-Mégantic is part of Quebec's picturesque Eastern Townships region, close to the border with Maine and Vermont. Quebec is a predominantly French-speaking province in the eastern half of Canada. The cause of the derailment was not immediately known.
name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> src="http://www.cbc.ca/video/swf/UberPlayer.swf?state=sharevideo&clipId=2395885527&width=480&height=322" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480"height="322" />

Pictures taken in the moments after the disaster showed a huge fireball rising into the night sky. Residents told reporters they had heard five or six large blasts. Huge clouds of thick black smoke were still rising from the center of Lac-Mégantic several hours after the disaster.

Authorities set up perimeters as firefighters battled to control the fire, and worried residents looked on amid fears that some of their friends and loved ones may have died in their homes "We're told some people are missing but they may just be out of town or on vacation," Brunet told a news conference.
Fire officials said they had asked for help from fire services in the United States. Around 20 fire engines were fighting the blaze. Police said some of the rail cars had spilled their contents into the river that runs through the town. Lac-Megantic resident Claude Bédard described the scene of the explosions as "dreadful." "It's terrible," Bédard said. "We've never seen anything like it. The Metro store, Dollarama, everything that was there is gone."
"I can say absolutely nothing about victims … We've been told about people who are not answering their phones, but you have to understand that there are people who are out of town and on holiday," a police spokesman, Michel Brunet, told the briefing. Bernard Demers, who owns a local restaurant, had to evacuate his home after the derailment. "Early this morning [there was] a big explosion like an atomic bomb," he said. "It was very hot … everybody was afraid."
The rail line is operated by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic, which owns 510 miles of track in Maine and Vermont in the United States and in Quebec and New Brunswick in Canada. Fire officials said the contents of the tanker cars that blew up had been pressurized. name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> src="http://www.cbc.ca/video/swf/UberPlayer.swf?state=sharevideo&clipId=2395885527&width=480&height=322" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480"height="322" />

An Environment Quebec spokesman, Christian Blanchette, said a large but undetermined amount of fuel had also spilled into the Chaudière River. Blanchette said the 73 cars were filled with crude oil, and at least four were damaged by the explosions and fire.

"There are still wagons which we think are pressurized. We're not sure because we can't get close, so we're working on the assumption that all the cars were pressurized and could explode. That's why progress is slow and tough," said local fire chief Denis Lauzon. "Right now, there is big smoke in the air, so we have a mobile laboratory here to monitor the quality of the air," Blanchette said. "We also have a spill on the lake and the river that is concerning us. We have advised the local municipalities downstream to be careful if they take their water from the Chaudière River."
Satellite images show the railroad snaking through downtown, following a route parallel to the shore of the lake that the town is named after, before heading inland and crossing the US border to the west of town. Firefighters and rescue workers from several neighboring municipalities, including Sherbrooke and Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, were called in to help deal with the disaster. Firefighters from northern Maine were also deployed to the Quebec town, according to a spokesman at the sheriff's office in Franklin County. The town is about 135 miles north of the Maine border.
There have been a number of high-profile derailments of trains carrying petroleum products in Canada recently, including one in Calgary, Alberta, last week when a flood-damaged bridge sagged toward the still-swollen Bow River. The derailed rail cars were removed without spilling their cargo. The train, which was reportedly heading toward Maine, belongs to Montreal Maine & Atlantic. According to the railroad's website, the company owns more than 500 miles of track serving Maine, Vermont, Quebec and New Brunswick. Last week, a train carrying petroleum products derailed in Calgary, Alberta, when a flood-damaged bridge sagged toward the still-swollen Bow River. The derailed rail cars were removed without spilling their cargo.
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Enter your email address to subscribe.Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Enter your email address to subscribe.
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox every weekday.Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox every weekday.