Explosions
rock Quebec town after train carrying crude oil derails, 1 person
dead
A
train carrying crude oil derailed Saturday in eastern Quebec,
sparking several explosions and a blaze that destroyed the center of
the town of Lac-Megantic and killed at least one person. An
unspecified number of people were reported missing.
6
July, 2013
Witnesses
said the eruptions sent local residents scrambling through the
streets under the intense heat of towering fireballs and a red glow
that illuminated the night sky.
Quebec
provincial police Lt. Michel Brunet confirmed that one person had
died. He refused to say how many others might be dead, but said
authorities have been told “many” people have been reported
missing.
Up
to 1,000 people were forced from their homes in the middle of the
night in the town, which is about 155 miles (250 kilometers) east of
Montreal and about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of the Maine border.
The
derailment caused several tanker rail cars to explode in the downtown
core, a popular area known for its bars that is often bustling on
summer weekend nights. Police said the first explosion tore through
the town shortly after 1 a.m.
The
fire spread to a number of homes in the lakeside town of 6,000
people, and witnesses said the flames shot up highter than the
steeple on a nearby church.
Flames
and billowing black smoke could be seen more than 12 hours after the
derailment, which involved a 73-car train.
“When
you see the center of your town almost destroyed, you’ll understand
that we’re asking ourselves how we are going to get through this
event,” an emotional Mayor Colette Roy-Laroche told a televised
news briefing.
Dozens
of residents gathered hours after the explosion at the edge of a wide
security perimeter and many feared the worst. About a kilometer (0.6
miles) down the town’s main street, flames danced around a railway
tanker that sat at the edge of the road.
“On
a beautiful evening like this with the bar, there were a lot of
people there,” said Bernard Demers, who owns a restaurant near the
blast site. “It was a big explosion. It’s a catastrophe. It’s
terrible for the population.”
Demers,
who fled his home, said the explosion was “like an atomic bomb. It
was very hot. ... Everybody was afraid.”
Charles
Coue said he and his wife felt the heat as they sprinted from their
home after an explosion went off a couple of hundred yards (meters)
away.
“It
went boom and it came like a fireball,” he said.
Another
resident Claude Bedard described the scene of the explosions as
“dreadful.”
“The
Metro store, Dollarama, everything that was there is gone,” he
said.
Environment
Quebec spokesman Christian Blanchette said a large but undetermined
amount of fuel had also spilled into the Chaudiere (Ah-DER-Re) River.
Blanchette said the 73 cars were filled with crude oil, and at least
four were damaged by the explosions and fire.
“We
also have a spill on the lake and the river that is concerning us. We
have advised the local municipalities downstream to be careful if
they take their water from the Chaudiere River.”
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 expressed his sympathy in a statement.
“Our
thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those
affected by this morning’s tragic train derailment and subsequent
fires in Lac-Megantic, Quebec,” Harper said.
“We
hope evacuees can return to their homes safely and quickly. The
people of Lac-Megantic and surrounding areas can rest assured that
our government is monitoring the situation and we stand by ready to
provide any assistance requested by the province.”
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 is likely to have an impact across the border. In
Maine, environmentalists and state officials have 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.
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