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| Raymond Lafontaine, who lost his son and two daughters-in-law, receives a hug from Quebec Premier Pauline Marois during her visit to Lac-Megantic, Quebec, Thursday, July 11, 2013. Marois toured the site of Canada's worst railway catastrophe in almost 150 years, after a runaway oil train killed 50 people in a fiery explosion. |
LAC-MEGANTIC,
Quebec (AP) -- The first victim of a runaway oil train's explosive
derailment in a Quebec town was identified Thursday, more than five days
since the disaster, which left behind a scorched scene so dangerous
that it slowed the search for 50 people presumed dead.
Quebec's
premier toured the traumatized town and sharply criticized the U.S.
railway's chief for not r
esponding in person more quickly to Canada's
worst railway disaster in nearly 150 years.
Police said four more bodies had been found, bringing the total found to 24.
The
first victim to be identified by the coroner's office was 93-year-old
Eliane Parenteau, who lived in the disaster zone in downtown
Lac-Megantic. Those who knew her described her as being active for her
age.
The devastated downtown remained
dangerous for days after the crash as responders put out fires and
struggled to keep the remaining oil tankers cool so they wouldn't
explode. The hazardous conditions delayed the search for the missing -
and now for bodies.
Officials also have warned that identifications would be made more difficult by the incinerated scene.
Conditions
had at least improved enough for nearly all the 2,000 residents forced
to evacuate after the crash - a third of the population- to return home,
the town's mayor said.
Quebec Premier Pauline
Marois arrived in town and renewed her criticism of Edward Burkhardt,
president and CEO of U.S.-based Rail World Inc., which owns the runaway
train.
"The leader of this company should have been there from the beginning," Marois said at a news conference.
Burkhardt arrived in town for the first time Wednesday with a police escort, facing jeers from residents.
Burkhardt
has said he delayed his visit to deal with the crisis from his Chicago
office, saying he was better able to communicate from there.
"I understand the extreme anger," he said. "We owe an abject apology to the people in this town."
He
has blamed the engineer for failing to set the brakes properly before
the unmanned train hurtled down a seven-mile (11-kilometer) incline,
derailed and ignited. All but one of its 73 cars was carrying oil, and
at least five exploded.
Burkhardt said the
engineer had been suspended without pay and was under "police control."
Burkhardt did not name the engineer, though the company had previously
identified the employee as Tom Harding of Quebec. Harding has not spoken
publicly since the crash.
Anger at the railway officials among residents appeared to mount Thursday.
Lac-Megantic's mayor, Colette Roy-Laroche, said a hoped-for meeting with Burkhardt didn't materialize.
"I am angry with the fact that he did not communicate with me sooner," she said.
At Burkhardt's head office, an aide said no snub of the mayor was intended.
"There's
been a misunderstanding on that issue," said Cathy Aldana. "Our people
have been in contact with mayor's office daily, and I know Mr. Burkhardt
wanted to see her personally."
Investigators
are also looking at a fire on the same train just hours before the
disaster. A fire official has said the train's power was shut down as
standard operating procedure, meaning the train's air brakes would have
been disabled. In that case, hand brakes on individual train cars would
have been needed.
The derailment is Canada's worst railway disaster since a train plunged into a Quebec river in 1864, killing 99.
The
crash has raised questions about the rapidly growing use of rail to
transport oil in North America, especially in the booming North Dakota
oil fields and Alberta oil sands far from the sea.
