IT WAS THE DEADLIEST TRAIN ACCIDENT IN CANADA'S HISTORY.
Lac-Megantic Train Disaster :
The Lac-Megantic train disaster is a tragic incident that occurred on July 6, 2013, in the small town of Lac-Megantic in Quebec, Canada. It was one of the deadliest train accidents in Canada's history, resulting in the death of 47 people and devastating half of the town.
On the evening of July 5, 2013, at about 10:50 p.m., the MMA 5017 train of the Montreal,Maine and Atlantic Railway company was transporting 7 million litres of crude oil from North Dakota to the refinery plant in New Brunswick. Due to nightfall, the train was stopped on the main line of the railway station located in Nantes, 7 miles from Lac-Megantic. When the engineer stopped the train, its locomotive was running, which operates the air-braking system. All the hand brakes could not be applied as the engineer was alone and some brakes were required more strength.
The fire broke out in the main engine of the train shortly after the engineer left for home, when the firemen who arrived immediately doused the fire and switched off the engine of the train, which is part of the air-breaking system of the train. The air-braking stopped working because the engine was off.
At 1am on July 6, the train started moving towards the town of Lac-Megantic as the air-braking was fully broken. Due to the slope, the train gained the capacity to move at a speed of 100 km per hour. Around 1.15 AM, the train derailed due to high speed as it approached the mid-town of the lac-megantic city. Due to this, 6 million litres of crude oil leaked and exploded on the spot. 47 people died on the spot due to the explosion. About 2,000 people were forcibly evacuated from their homes as the eruption intensified. Around 40 buildings were destroyed as a result of this tragedy.
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