A runaway oil train derailed in Quebec on Sunday, killing at least five people, according to FOX News. The derailment caused explosions and fires that destroyed the downtown district.
Dozens of people are still reported missing, and Lt. Michel Brunet said the number of missing people might fluctuate up or down, as authorities fear they may recover more bodies.
"We met many people who had reported family members missing," Brunet said. "Right now, I can tell you, about 40."
The train was carrying oil in all but one of 73 cars. The oil was being transported from the Bakken oil region of North Dakota to a refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick.
"This is really terrible," Colette Roy-Laroche, the mayor, told Fox. "Our community is grieving and it is taking its toll on us."
"It's a mess," Denis Lauzon, the Local Fire Chief, said. He described the scene as looking like "a war zone."
Firefighters are staying at least 500 feet away from the burning oil tankers, which are being doused with water and foam to help prevent overheating.
The train crash destroyed about 30 buildings and caused at least five oil tankers to explode in the downtown district, an area usually busy with popular bars. The operator of the railway believes a runaway train caused the accident. The train had been parked uphill of the town because the engineer had finished his run. The cars came loose and went downhill for seven miles, gaining speed before derailing.
"Somehow those brakes were released and that's what is going to be investigated," Joe McGonigle, the vice president of marketing for Montreal, Maine & Atlantic, the company that operates the train, said. "We're pretty comfortable saying it is the brakes.
"The train was parked, it was tied up," he continued. "The brakes were secured."
"We've had a very good safety record for these 10 years," Edward Burkhardt, the president and CEO of Rail World Inc., the parent company of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, said. "I think we've blown it here."
A train derailed in Quebec.
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