Anniversary of Lac-Mégantic train disaster

Michael Allan McCrae | July 6, 2014 | 5:50 pm Energy Canada 

Lac-Mégantic, the town that was devastated by a train derailment a year ago, had a memorial on Sunday morning.

Hundreds were in attendance. Gov. Gen. David Johnston and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard were at the service.

On July 6 at 1:15 a.m. 74 unattended freight cars carrying crude oil from the Bakken formation rolled into the town center, derailed and exploded. Forty seven died or were presumed dead and 30 buildings were destroyed.

Several outlets looked back at Canada fourth deadliest rail accident.

The Globe and Mail has interactive photos, a flyover comparing the disaster aftermath and a look at the rebuilding a year later.

Survivors were interviewed, some still suffering from trauma.

“I’m always having nightmares, terrible nightmares. I’m like a child when I wake up,” says local artist René Simard who was a patron at the Musi-Café when the train hit. Simard says he hasn’t worked since the disaster a year ago and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Comments

  • nobody24

    …shouldn’t have built the railroad through the town… oh, yeah, they didn’t, they built the town around the railroad… yet somehow it is the “oil’s” fault.
    Isn’t ignorance bliss ?

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