Train Carrying Crude Oil Kills 1
At least one person was killed, and a local downtown destroyed, when a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed in eastern Quebec shortly after midnight Saturday, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_23610350/train-carrying-crude-oil-derails-quebec
The accident happened in Lac-Megantic, a provincial town whose center was engulfed in flames that sent residents running for their lives. The derailed 73-car train had several tanker cars that exploded in the middle of town, an area with a lot of bars that were bustling at 1 a.m., when the accident happened.
About 2,000 residents of Lac-Megantic, which is 155 miles from Montreal and only about 10 miles from the border of Maine, were evacuated, AP reported. More than 30 buildings were destroyed in the town.
The train, owned by the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, had been parked uphill of Lac-Megantic, a rail official told AP.
The crash sent fireballs and blasts through the town, and fires were still burning late Saturday night there, nearly 24 hours after the derailment, according to AP.