Firefighters in Quebec have managed to put out a blaze from a freight train laden with oil. Source: AAP
FIVE bodies have been found so far in a grim search for victims from the catastrophic derailment of an oil-laden cargo train in eastern Canada and officials expect to find as many as 40 more.
Firefighters in the Quebec lakeside town of Lac-Megantic finally managed to put out a raging inferno sparked a day earlier when a driverless freight train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded, sending fireballs skyward and unleashing a wall of fire that tore through downtown homes and businesses.
"The flames, the fires all have been put out now. We did it," fire chief Denis Lauzon told a press briefing.
That meant police finally would be able to conduct a full search of the charred wreckage at the disaster scene.
But the accident devastated the centre of the small town 250 kilometres east of Montreal and forced about 2,000 to flee their home. Locals struggled to come to terms with the scope of the disaster.
Many in this heavily Catholic area were unable to go to Sunday services because their church was within the burned out area. The lucky ones headed to churches in nearby towns
"People are in shock, They just cannot believe how serious this all is," said Guy Boulanger, an official from a nearby Catholic diocese.
Police spokesman Michel Brunet said they anticipated "many more" fatalities. The official figure for missing people is 40, he said.
One firefighter said on condition of anonymity that there had been at least 50 people in one bar that was consumed by the flames.
"There is nothing left," he said.
The explosion completely levelled more than four blocks of the town's downtown area, and it took firefighters 18 hours to contain the inferno.
Brunet had said on Saturday that the fire was so intense investigators couldn't go anywhere near the devastated area.
Witnesses said they heard the train pass by at what seemed like a greater than usual speed, then careen off the rails and erupt into flames.
Explosion survivors described a wall of flames as the black tanker cars jumped the rail tracks just as dozens of people were enjoying a summer night out in downtown bars and restaurants.
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway said in a statement on Saturday that the train had been transporting 72 carloads of crude oil when it derailed.
The train had been stopped in the neighbouring town of Nantes, around 13 kilometres west of Lac-Megantic, for a crew changeover.
For an unknown reason, Journet said, the train "started to advance, to move down the slope leading to Lac-Megantic," even though the brakes were engaged.
As a result, "there was no conductor on board" when the train crashed.
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