Hope fading for 40 missing in Quebec train disaster, officials confirm five dead

National Post ^ | July 7, 2013 | Graeme Hamilton

[Squawk 8888]

LAC-MEGANTIC, Que. — About 40 people are considered missing after the spectacular blaze and explosions that razed much of Lac-Megantic, increasing the likelihood that the number of fatalities could soar from the current official death toll of five.

“I can tell you that we have met a lot of people….and what I can tell you is that about 40 people are considered missing,” Quebec provincial police Lt. Michel Brunet told a news conference.

“We have to be careful with that number because it could go up or down.”

It is the first time police have gone public with an estimate since the derailment of a train carrying crude oil triggered Saturday morning’s fatal events.

Brunet said two bodies were found overnight and another two on Sunday morning. The first body was discovered Saturday.

Police say a higher death toll is inevitable.

About 30 buildings were destroyed after tanker cars laden with oil caught fire shortly after 1 a.m. One of them is the Musi-Cafe bar where dozens of people were enjoying themselves in the wee hours of a glorious summer night. Most of the missing are believed to have been at the bar.

[Squawk 8888]

[Squawk 8888]

To all- please ping me to Canadian topics.

Canada Ping!

[knarf]

But ... moving crude by train is much more enviornmentaly friendly and safer than pipeline .. odumbo says so.

[BenLurkin]

Musi-Cafe Bar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU_cJV4xj9k

[bigheadfred]

what a mess

prayers up

[cripplecreek]

Couple of large pics.

[knarf]

Oh Lord .. I hadn't realized how close to a living community that is.

Father, I don't know how to pray ... bless o Lord the survivors and have mercy on those that may get angry at You.

[editor-surveyor]

Looks kind of like Philly after the MOVE massacre.

[TEXOKIE]

PRAYERS UP.

[BenLurkin]

It looks like the bar was about where the middle of the bottom picture.

[George from New England]

All day Sunday, not a mention in the MSM.

2 people die in SF plane crash and wall to wall coverage.

60 people die in oil train explosion and MSM silence.

We can’t report on any story that makes the king obama look bad. i.e. oil pipeline avoidance

[AnAmericanAbroad]

Damn. Looks like photos of Berlin at the end of WW2. From what I’ve read in Canadian media, the bar, the ‘Musi-Café’, was pretty much right at the hypocenter of the explosion.

[cripplecreek]

Lots of small communities are built right up against the tracks all across the country. Here is Grass lake just north of me. The dashed line is a working rail line and virtually every town along it is the same way all the way across the state.

Folks need to think long and hard about moving oil and gas by rail through populated areas.

[matt04]

I’m amazed they haven’t had more coverage of this for the purposes of advocating “green” energy such as wind mills.

[SueRae]

Just horrible. Prayers for our friends up North.

[NonValueAdded]

prayers

[Biggirl]

Prayers.

[Paladin2]

Leaving a train of estimated $8,000,000 value unattended seems like a poor carriage of fiduciary responsibility.

[BfloGuy]

60 people die in oil train explosion and MSM silence.

Well, it was in Canada. We Americans are famously immune to news of the rest of the world -- even when it's about 10 miles from the border.

We should really get over that. This was horrible.

[Eva]

I read in the WSJ that the oil was from North Dakota and the RR was headquartered in Illinois. The refinery to which the oil was headed was Irving Oil of Canada, in St John New Brunswick.

If this was anything other than an oil train, this would be top headlines across the USA and Canada.