Lac-Magantic is still ablaze after a runaway train carrying light crude oil exploded in the Canadian town. Eyewitnesses say the streets of Lac-Megantic are filled with fire. Two of the five cars that exploded are still on fire 36 hours later. Police said they found two more bodies from the driverless train that exploded in Lac-Megantic. The death toll from yesterday’s explosion in Lac-Megantic has now hit three and authorities are afraid that number is still rising.

The Lac-Megantic blast exploded in a fireball, throwing black smoke into the air. About 30 buildings, including some of the Lac-Megantic’s most historic sites, were destroyed in the explosion. About 2,000 people were evacuated from Lac-Megantic. Police are still trying to account for dozens of people who are missing. At the time of the blast bars were said to be crowded. Published reports say there may be as many as 100 people still missing.

A police spokesman told the media, "People have been reported missing or disappeared but... we are not going to issue a figure. We know there are going to be more deaths.”

Firefighters are battling the fire but have to stay at least 1,000 feet from the burning tankers to be careful of more explosions.

Lac-Megantic Fire Chief Denis Lauzon told reporters "We still have a risk of explosions as we still have tankers on fire. We lost the biblioteque which had all the memories of people here. It's a mess," said Chief Lauzon.

The Montreal, Maine & Atlantic train consisted of 73 cars carrying pressurized crude oil containers. Five of the cars uncoupled from an engine parked during an overnight driver shift-change in the village of Nantes, four miles outside Lac-Megantic, on Saturday. The cars picked up speed as they rolled down the tracks before derailing in Lac Megantic. Company spokesman Joe McGonigle said the engineer said he put the brakes on “properly.”

An engineer had parked the train and put the brakes of its five locomotive engines on "properly" before going to a local hotel for the night, said the spokesman, Joe McGonigle.

The cars filled with fuel somehow became uncoupled, causing them to roll downhill into the town and derail, he added.

Lac-Megantic is a lakeside town with a population of 6,000 people. It is close to the American border in Vermon. It is 130 miles north of Maine's capital, Augusta.

 by Tony Sokol