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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 5 hours later)
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. As firefighters doused still burning oil tanker cars, more bodies were recovered on Sunday in the devastated Canadian 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.
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. Quebec provincial police Lt Michel Brunet said on Sunday at least 40 people were reported missing, but cautioned that the number could fluctuate up or down. Brunet confirmed two more deaths on Sunday afternoon after confirming two people were found dead overnight. One death was confirmed on Saturday.
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. 		The operator of the train said on Sunday the air brakes used to hold the locomotive in place may have been released after the train was parked.
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 train had been hauling crude oil from North Dakota to eastern Canada, and was sitting parked, without a driver, outside the town when it began to roll downhill, gathered speed and derailed on a curve at 1am (6am BST) on Saturday.
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. The statement from Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway did not make clear how the brakes had been disengaged, or who could be responsible.
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. "One fact that has emerged is the locomotive of the (parked) oil train ... was shut down subsequent to the departure of the engineer who had handled the train from Farnham, which may have resulted in the release of air brakes on the locomotive that was holding the train in place," the company statement said.
"It's a mess," he said. Fires were still preventing rescuers reaching part of the 73-car train on Sunday, and billowing black smoke could still be seen long after the derailment.
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 eruptions early on Saturday morning 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.
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. 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.
Brunet said he couldn't say where the bodies were found exactly because the families have not been notified "It's a mess," Lauzon said.
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 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 west of the Maine border. About 30 buildings were destroyed after tanker cars laden with oil caught fire in the picturesque lakeside town.
"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." The cars exploded in the downtown district, a popular area packed with bars that are often crowded on summer weekend nights. Brunet said he could not say where the bodies were found exactly because the families had not been notified
Burkhardt, who was mystified by the disaster, said the train was parked because the engineer had finished his run. Bernard Theberge, who was on the patio of the popular Musi-Cafe at the time of the crash, feared for the safety of those inside when the first explosion went off.
"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." "People started running and the fire ignited almost instantaneously," he said.
/>"It was like a movie,
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. 		"There were people inside. I thought for maybe two seconds that I should go in, but the heat was too strong to get to the door. It's hard, it's huge. Imagine half the town on fire."
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. Rene Bolduc, who lives a few hundred metres from the site of the accident, said: "I was sleeping when it happened. There was a boom and the inside of my house turned red with the colour of the flames. I left with nothing but the shirt on my back."
He said he saw people running as flames towered overhead. "It felt like the hairs on my arms and face were burning off."
Louise Boulet, 65, looked at a local newspaper that had published an aerial view of the explosion scene.
"That is where my sister lived," she said pointing to an image of a flattened building. "She is dead for sure. If she were alive, her car would not still be there," she said, pointing to a burnt vehicle next to the building.
Myrian Marotte, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Red Cross in Lac-Mégantic, said about 2,000 people had been evacuated from their homes.
"There are those are still looking for loved ones," Marotte said."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. Marotte said many of the evacuees were 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. Edward Burkhardt, the president and chief executive of Rail World, the parent company of Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway, said the decade-old railroad had had a very good safety record. "Well, I think we've blown it here."
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. 		Because of limited pipeline capacity in North Dakota's Bakken region and in Canada, oil producers are using rail to transport much of the oil to refineries on the east, Gulf and west coasts, as well as inland. Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper, has called rail 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.
"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 the US. 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 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 litres) of oil.
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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