11th anniversary of Lac-Mégantic rail disaster that killed 47 people
Posted July 6, 2024 12:35 pm.
Residents of Lac-Mégantic paid tribute Saturday to the 47 people who were killed in the rail disaster 11 years ago.
A small gathering of city councillors and residents gathered in the town centre, where they laid flowers at the foot of a memorial.
“A moment to remember,” the town wrote in a Facebook post Saturday.
An unattended train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in the heart of town on July 6, 2013.
The derailment and fire destroyed much of the downtown core, forced about 2,000 people to evacuate their homes and spilled some six million litres of crude oil into the environment.
Early work began last October on the project to divert trains from downtown Lac-Mégantic. Residents of Lac-Mégantic and surrounding towns are divided on the project, with some saying the new route has more curves than the old one and could trigger derailments.
–With files from The Canadian Press
