14 DAY TRIAL // Authorities have announced five casualties in the deadly derailment of a train near Quebec over the weekend.
As reported before, a 73 tanker-car train crashed into the town of Lac-Mégantic after the cars came loose, with at least five of them exploding upon impact. 72 of the cars were carrying flammable oil.
30 structures in town were damaged, and officials state that the death toll has risen from one to five by Monday.
A search operation is currently taking place as emergency teams are scouring the grounds for 40 people who are still missing, the AP informs.
“Words cannot tell the damage that had been done. Many, many buildings have been damaged. It's a catastrophe for the town of course, but also for the whole province,” Quebec provincial police Sgt. Gregory Gomez del Prado stated.
Check back, more updates will be posted as developments in the case emerge.
[Update, July 8 2013]: With readers' help, this article has been modified to include the name of the town where the accident took place, Lac-Mégantic.