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Lac-Megantic Train Blast: PM Harper Visits 'War Zone'

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One witness said the fireball that followed the derailment was "like an atomic bomb"

bbc.co.uk - July 7, 2013

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the part of Lac-Megantic affected by Saturday's crude oil explosion looks like a "war zone".

At least five people died when runaway wagons packed with crude oil derailed and blew up early on Saturday.

Some 30 buildings had been completely incinerated by fires which engulfed the historic centre, said Mr Harper.

Police are trying to find 40 missing people: a nearby bar was said to have been crowded at the time of the blast.

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Here are some important facts and links . . .

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/montreal/Shocked+residents+watch+city+burns/8626202/story.html

Videos (top and bottom in the link below) . . .
http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/1-confirmed-dead-after-unmanned-train-derails-explodes-in-lac-megantic-1.1356290

A lakeside town that is home to some 6,000 people, Lac-Megantic is close to the US border with Vermont and 210 km (130 miles) north of Maine's capital, Augusta.

Some of the train's cargo spilled into the nearby Chaudiere river, said Environment Quebec spokesman Christian Blanchette, adding that communities downstream of Lac-Megantic had been warned to take care if using river water. A mobile laboratory had been set up to monitor the quality of the air, he added.

The train was carrying the crude oil from the Bakken Field in North Dakota. Montreal, Maine & Atlantic owns more than 800km (500 miles) of track serving Maine, Vermont, Quebec and New Brunswick.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23212541

The railway's chairman, Edward Burhardt, quoted by CBC, said an engineer had parked the train and put the brakes on "properly" before going to a local hotel for the night.
The cars filled with fuel somehow became uncoupled, causing them to roll downhill into the town and derail, said the spokesman, Joe McGonigle.

"It seems that the brakes were tight on locomotives," Mr McGonigle told La Presse. "We found the locomotives higher up, half a mile (800m) away."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23215855

The oil that contaminated the river could flow to Quebec City and the St. Lawrence River.  The video in the bottom CBS link (below) states this is an ecological disaster as 10 communities have lost their drinking water, and the waterways are now dead. 

"The derailment raised questions about the safety of Canada's growing practice of transporting oil by train, and was sure to bolster arguments that a proposed oil pipeline running from Canada across the U.S. - one that Canadian officials badly want - would be safer."

Police: Evidence criminal act may have led to Canada train crash

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/09/world/americas/canada-runaway-train/index.html?sr=fb070913canadatraintampered545p

Canada train derailment probe focuses on fire hours before Quebec disaster, tankers with history of puncturing

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57592781/canada-train-derailment-probe-focuses-on-fire-hours-before-quebec-disaster-tankers-with-history-of-puncturing/

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