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Quebec train crash death toll rises to five as police search for more victims Quebec train crash death toll rises to five as police search for more victims
(about 2 hours later)
The death toll from the explosion of a runaway freight train in a small Quebec town rose to five on Sunday and another 40 people are missing, police said on Sunday. As firefighters doused still burning oil tanker cars, more bodies were recovered Sunday in the devastated town of Lac-Mégantic, raising the death toll to five after a runaway train derailed, leading to a series of explosions. With dozens of people reported missing, authorities expected to find more bodies once they reached the hardest-hit area.
The driverless train derailed and blew up early Saturday in Lac-Megantic, destroying dozens of buildings in the center of the town. Quebec provincial police Lt Michel Brunet said Sunday that at least 40 people are reported missing, but cautioned that the number could fluctuate up or down. Brunet confirmed two more deaths early Sunday afternoon after confirming two people were found dead overnight. One death was confirmed Saturday.
"Two more people have been recovered, two more bodies, which brings the total to five … there are about 40 people, more or less, who are considered to be missing," police spokesman Michel Brunet told reporters. "There could be more, there could be less." Fires were preventing rescuers from reaching part of the 73-car train, and billowing black smoke could still be seen long after the derailment.
/>The eruptions early Saturday morning sent residents of Lac-Megantic scrambling through the streets under the intense heat of towering fireballs and a red glow that illuminated the night sky.
Meanwhile, fires continued burning for more than 24 hours after a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed in eastern Quebec, igniting explosions and fires that destroyed a town's centre and killed at least one person. Police said they expected the death toll to rise. Local fire chief Denis Lauzon likened the charred scene to "a war zone."
/>"This is really terrible. Our community is grieving and it is taking its toll on us," mayor Colette Roy-Laroche said.
The explosions sent residents of Lac-Mégantic scrambling through the streets under the intense heat of towering fireballs and a red glow that illuminated the night sky, witnesses said. Flames and billowing black smoke could still be seen long after the 73-car train had derailed, and a fire chief likened the charred scene to a war zone. The search for victims in the charred debris was hampered because two of the train's cars were still burning Sunday morning, sparking fears of more potentially fatal blasts.
Up to 2,000 people were forced from their homes in the lakeside town of 6,000 people, which is about 155 miles east of Montreal and about 10 miles west of the Maine border. Two of the five cars that exploded are still on fire 36 hours later, Lauzon said. He said firefighters are staying 500ft (150m) from the burning tankers, which are being doused with water and foam to keep them from overheating and exploding.
Quebec provincial police lieutenant Michel Brunet confirmed that one person had died. He refused to say how many others might be dead, but said authorities had been told "many" people have been reported missing. "It's a mess," he said.
Lt Guy Lapointe, a spokesman with Quebec provincial police, said: "I don't want to get into numbers, what I will say is we do expect we'll have other people who will be found deceased unfortunately. "People are calling in reported love ones missing, some people are reported two, three times missing by different members of the family," he said. The multiple blasts came over a span of several hours in the town of 6,000, which is about 155 miles (255km) east of Montreal and about 10 miles (16km) west of the Maine border. About 30 buildings were destroyed after tanker cars laden with oil caught fire in the picturesque lakeside town in Quebec's Eastern Townships.
The derailment caused several tanker rail cars to explode in an area packed with bars that often bustles on summer weekend nights. The derailment caused several tanker rail cars to explode in the downtown district, a popular area packed with bars that often bustles on summer weekend nights. Police said the first explosion tore through the town shortly after 1am local time. The fire then spread to several homes.
Police said the first explosion tore through the town shortly after 1am local time on Saturday. The fire then spread to several homes. Brunet said he couldn't say where the bodies were found exactly because the families have not been notified
"When you see the centre of your town almost destroyed, you'll understand that we're asking ourselves how we are going to get through this event," the mayor, Colette Roy-Laroche, told a televised news briefing. The cause of the accident was believed to be a runaway train, the railway's operator said. The president and CEO of Rail World Inc, the parent company of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, said the train had been parked uphill of Lac-Megantic. The tanker cars then sped downhill into the town before derailing.
The cause of the accident was believed to be a runaway train, the railway's operator said. "If brakes aren't properly applied on a train, it's going to run away," said Edward Burkhardt. "But we think the brakes were properly applied on this train."
Burkhardt, who was mystified by the disaster, said the train was parked because the engineer had finished his run.
"We've had a very good safety record for these 10 years," he said of the decade-old railroad. "Well, I think we've blown it here."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced he is heading to the town Sunday.
Because of limited pipeline capacity in North Dakota's Bakken region and in Canada, oil producers are using railroads to transport much of the oil to refineries on the East, Gulf and West coasts, as well as inland. Harper has called railroad transit "far more environmentally challenging" while trying to persuade the Obama administration to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast.
Myrian Marotte, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Red Cross in Lac-Megantic, said there are about 2,000 evacuees and said 163 stayed at their operations center overnight.
"There are those are still looking for loved ones," Marotte said.
Marotte said many of the evacuees are staying with family and friends. "Some people have lost everything," she said.
Lines of tall trees in the area looked like giant standing matchsticks, blackened from bottom to tip. Witnesses said the eruptions shook residents out of their slumber and sent them darting through the streets.
Patrons gathered at a nearby bar were sent running for their lives after the thunderous crash and wall of fire blazed through the early morning sky.
Bernard Theberge, who was outside on the bar's patio at the time of the crash, feared for the safety of those inside the popular Musi-Cafe when the first explosion went off.
"People started running and the fire ignited almost instantaneously," he said.
"It was like a movie," said Theberge, who considered himself fortunate to escape with only second-degree burns on his right arm. "Explosions as if it were scripted but this was live."
The Quebec accident was likely to have an impact across the border. In Maine, environmentalists and state officials had previously raised concerns about the threat of an accident and a spill from railroad tank cars carrying crude oil across the state.
The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway carried nearly 3m barrels of oil across Maine last year. Each tank car holds some 30,000 gallons (113,600 liters) of oil.
The Maine department of environmental Protection has begun developing protection plans for the areas where the trains travel, spokeswoman Samantha Warren said recently.
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