Disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec

Let's hope it's not as bad as many are expecting it to be.  Loss of  close to 100  lives (that figure is from outside the Canadian media, how they get more info than our own media is anyone's guess)  plus hundreds rendered homeless will be a hard hit to the town and area.

Sophie Cousineau, Justin Giovannetti and Les Perreaux writing at Globe&Mail:
When the runaway ghost train rolled   into the heart of town and detonated like a bomb, levelling the entire historic central district of pretty Lac-Mégantic, Que., survivors say that life or death depended on where you happened to be standing.

A day after the conflagration which destroyed at least 30 buildings, including a packed bar, apartments and all the town’s archives, fire still raged. With one confirmed dead, hope was diminishing for dozens of people who remained missing.  Medical officials reported almost no injuries. Those who failed to escape probably did not survive to seek treatment.

Many of those missing were indoors, such as the patrons of the Musi-Café bar who filled the building when 73 train cars rolled in out of control at 1:15 a.m. ET Saturday morning.

Those who were outside when the driverless train failed to negotiate a bend had a chance. Some survivors were out for a smoke. Some were going home after a enjoying a few drinks at a packed bar near the epicentre of the explosion. Others were out for a stroll ended up running just a metre or two ahead of a river of fire – tons of burning crude oil flowing down city streets and into the lake.

So far, the Surêté du Québec is confirming only one death and refusing to validate reports that anywhere between 50 and 80 people are missing. An officer speaking on condition of anonymity Saturday afternoon told a Globe and Mail reporter he had 50 names on his list. Agence France-Presse put the number at 80.

In the final police briefing for Saturday, Lieutenant Guy Lapointe would say only: “There is one confirmed death. But we expect others.”

Those who were on the scene when the immense fireball turned buildings into piles of ash have no doubt the death toll will be big.

" Everybody who didn’t make it back is dead," said Frédérique Mailloux, a 38-year-old stay-at-home mom, who said six of her friends are missing. “I have cried every tear in my body.”

Nearly two square kilometres of the downtown were razed, according to fire chief Denis Lauzon. “The scene is like one you see after a big forest fire. There are only parts of the buildings left, trees have been completely burnt, there is no grass left, the cars are charred. This is total destruction.”........