Oil Train Derailed

July 6 2013: Forty-seven people are killed after a runaway train carrying crude oil is derailed and explodes in Quebec, causing a fireball that wipes out much of the town of Lac-Mégantic, located in the Eastern Townships of the Canadian province of Quebec, at approximately 01:15 EDT, on July 6, 2013, when an unattended 74-car freight train carrying Bakken formation crude oil ran away and derailed, resulting in the fire and explosion of multiple tank cars. Forty-two people were confirmed dead, with five more missing and presumed dead. More than 30 buildings in the town's centre, roughly half of the downtown area, were destroyed. Initial newspaper reports described a 1 km blast radius.

It is the fourth deadliest rail accident in Canadian history and the deadliest since the St-Hilaire train disaster in 1864.