Rescuers have been unable to continue the search for further victims of the Canadian oil train disaster today after the area was ruled unsafe.
At least 40 people are still missing in Lac-Megantic after the driverless train derailed and exploded in the centre of the town.
All but one of the 73 tanker cars the train was transporting was filled with crude oil, with at least five of them exploding.
Firefighters have been trying to prevent a further two from overheating with water and foam, leaving police unable to continue rescue efforts in the explosion-ravaged town centre until the area is safe.
“It’s an area that is still extremely risky,” said police spokesman Benoit Richard.
“The fire service decided they could not allow us to go there for security reasons. We’ll see what we can do today.”
The Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway-operated train had been parked in the neighbouring town of Nantes on Friday night, before rolling down hill into the centre of Lac-Megantic.
The company said it was investigating the cause of the accident. It had been parked in the town of Nantes the night before, with the mayor telling local radio firefighters had dealt with a fire on the train previously.
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said it had retrieved the train’s data recorder and a braking measurement device as they continued their investigation into the cause of the disaster.
The train – operated by the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway – had been parked at Nantes, 12 km (eight miles) to the east of Lac-Megantic, late on Friday night.
The train’s oil was being transported from the Bakken oil field in North Dakota across the Canadian border to New Brunswick. Limited pipeline capacity at Bakken has seen oil companies turn to rail to transport oil for refining, but the disaster in Quebec is the fourth freight train accident involving oil shipments this year.
“This is an unbelievable disaster,” said Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who toured the town and compared it to a war zone.
“This is an enormous area, 30 buildings just completely destroyed, for all intents and purposes incinerated. There isn’t a family that is not affected by this.”