In Lac Megantic, Quebec the flag was lowered to half-staff today, two years after the rail disaster that changed lives. A runaway train, carrying 8 million litres of oil, derailed and crashed in the centre of the lakeside town in a stunning display that has awakened Canadians to the issues of rail safety.
The church bells of St. Agnes rang out 47 times this afternoon as people gathered around it in a moment of silence to honour the memory of the 47 people who perished that night.
“We felt it was important to provide the citizens the opportunity to pause together to remember that tragic night.” Mayor Colette Roy Laroche said in a news release.
2,000 people were forced from their homes and the down town core was destroyed. Clean up efforts to remove the estimated six million litres of petroleum crude oil are still ongoing, but were suspended at noon today for the moment of silence.
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board released a report last year oultining 18 causes and contributing factors to the disaster. Last month the federal government charged the railway company and several individuals following an investigation that concluded an insufficient number of handbrakes had been applied to the train.
Residents in the area are still demanding much of the deteriorating track be replaced.
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