Death toll in Canada train blaze rises to 3—Quebec police

Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac Megantic, Quebec, Canada, Saturday, July 6, 2013. The accident sparked several explosions and forced the evacuation of up to 1,000 people. AP PHOTO/THE CANADIAN PRESS, PAUL CHIASSON

LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec—Two more bodies were discovered overnight after a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed in eastern Quebec, igniting explosions and fires that destroyed a town’s downtown center. The confirmed death toll is now three, and is expected to rise further.

Fires were preventing rescuers from reaching part of the 73-car train, and billowing black smoke could still be seen long after it derailed. 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. A fire chief likened the charred scene to a war zone.

Quebec provincial police lieutenant Michel Brunet said Sunday there were more dead among the missing. Police have refused to give any estimate of people unaccounted for because police were having difficulty getting a fixed number.

“We know there will be more deaths,” Brunet said.

The multiple blasts came over a span of several hours in the town of 6,000, which is about 155 miles (250 kilometers) east of Montreal and about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of the Maine border. About 30 buildings were destroyed after tanker cars laden with oil caught fire.

The derailment caused several tanker rail cars to explode in the downtown, a popular area packed with bars that often bustles on summer weekend nights. Police said the first explosion tore through the town shortly after 1 a.m. local time. 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.

The head of the train’s operator, Rail World Inc., said the train was parked uphill of the community, but it’s believed the brakes were properly applied.

Myrian Marotte, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Red Cross in Lac-Megantic, said Sunday 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.

Trees like standing matchsticks

Lines of tall trees in the area looked like giant standing matchsticks, blackened from bottom to tip. Witnesses said the eruptions sent many shook residents out of their slumber and sent them darting through the streets.

Patrons gathered by a nearby bar were sent running for their lives after the thunderous crash and wall of fire blazed through the early morning sky.

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.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced he is heading to the down Sunday.

The train, reportedly heading toward Maine, belongs to Montreal Maine & Atlantic. According to the railroad’s website, the company owns more than 500 miles (800 kilometers) 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.

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 3 million 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.