"The center of a Quebec town has been wiped out, according to the mayor, after a runaway freight train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in a fireball at 1am on Saturday.
One person was killed and about 30 buildings were destroyed as the unmanned train exploded. About 60 people are believed to be missing, but the force of the fire has slowed rescue efforts.
Parts of the town were evacuated in the early hours as fireballs shot several metres in the air, flames spread to nearby homes and thick acrid smoke filled the air in Lac-Megantic, which is close to the Maine border and about 250km from Montreal.
"At least 80 people missing in Canada train inferno: firefighter
07 July 2013 | 04:40 | FOCUS News Agency
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Montreal. At least 80 people are missing in the small Canadian town of Lac-Megantic after a freight train loaded with oil derailed and burst into flames, a firefighter returning from the scene told AFP on Saturday.
"There were at least 50 people in the bar. There is nothing left," the firefighter said on condition of anonymity. Several other buildings were destroyed in the town located 250 kilometers (155 miles) east of Montreal."
"MONTREAL - One person is confirmed dead, and dozens are missing, after a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded early Saturday morning in Lac-Megantic, Que.
Lt. Michel Brunet said "several people" were missing, but refused to provide a number. Dozens of people, however, told QMI Agency that family members were missing.
A conductor-less, 73-wagon train carrying hundreds of tons of crude oil, derailed by the 6,000-person town about 250 km east of Montreal, forcing 1,000 people from their homes and spilling oil into the Chaudiere River.
The flames from the explosions destroyed part of the village's downtown core. It took firefighters over 12 hours to control the flames.
Police said one person was reported injured.
The train is owned by Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway, a U.S.-based company that specializes in transporting chemical products and crude oil.
QMI Agency learned that the train's operators exited the locomotive around 11:30 p.m. Friday and the train was supposed to remain immobile. The train left from Western Canada and was transporting crude to Irving refineries in eastern Quebec.
The political ramifications of this are staggering, Bob. Thank you so much for sharing it. This news story would have been wasted in your own dedicated and paid-for forum, and it is impossible that we would have heard of it elsewhere.
Brandon wrote: The political ramifications of this are staggering, Bob. Thank you so much for sharing it. This news story would have been wasted in your own dedicated and paid-for forum, and it is impossible that we would have heard of it elsewhere.
Hopefully they will find most of the missing alive. I think the death level is up to three. My nephew's family lives on the main line out of Denver and I hope he never sees a toxic derailment or fire.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
