Lac-Megantic resident Adrien Aubert filmed the aftermath of the blast
Canadian police have said 30 people still missing since Saturday's train disaster in a Quebec town are "most probably dead".
Twenty bodies have already been found after a runaway train carrying oil derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic.The train operator's boss blamed a Canadian driver for the accident, saying he had probably failed to set a series of hand brakes.
At least 30 buildings were razed by the fireball from the explosion.
This forced some 2,000 town residents to flee their homes.
'Burnt to ashes' On Wednesday, Quebec police inspector Michel Forget told the families of the missing that their loved ones were "most probably dead in this tragedy".
Rail World boss Ed Burkhardt: "It is very
questionable whether the hand brakes were properly applied. In fact I'll
say they weren't."
Police say one of the 20 recovered bodies has been identified and the victim's relatives have been notified.
No official list of missing people has yet been released, but unofficial accounts have been circulating on social media.
Authorities have asked the relatives of those still missing to provide DNA samples by bringing in toothbrushes, razors and other items.
But the authorities have also warned some of the bodies may have been burnt to ashes in the explosion.
'Serious gaps' Earlier on Wednesday, Rail World chief executive officer Edward Burkhardt was heckled by Lac-Megantic residents as he made his first visit to the town.
Mr Burkhardt revealed that an engineer who was in charge of driving the train had been suspended without pay.
"I think he did something wrong," Mr Burkhardt said, flanked by police escorts.
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His candid admission that the train's engineer may have been to blame may have won him kudos with some, but for others it only adds to the growing mistrust of freight train companies. Opponents point out that not only are there more trains carrying potentially hazardous cargo, but the trains are getting longer - the one that exploded into a fireball was made up of more than 70 pressurised oil containers.
Hotel receptionist Charlotte Selby told me she would like to see an end to the oil trains all together. Her 16-year-old daughter Karyne phoned early on Saturday morning and told her: "Mum, Lac-Megantic doesn't exist anymore."
At the scene
Ed Burkhardt was no doubt speaking figuratively when he said he would have to wear a bulletproof vest in Lac-Megantic. Yet judging by his reception and the tone of the questions put to him, such concerns may have been relevant.His candid admission that the train's engineer may have been to blame may have won him kudos with some, but for others it only adds to the growing mistrust of freight train companies. Opponents point out that not only are there more trains carrying potentially hazardous cargo, but the trains are getting longer - the one that exploded into a fireball was made up of more than 70 pressurised oil containers.
Hotel receptionist Charlotte Selby told me she would like to see an end to the oil trains all together. Her 16-year-old daughter Karyne phoned early on Saturday morning and told her: "Mum, Lac-Megantic doesn't exist anymore."
"It's hard to explain why someone
didn't do something. We think he applied some hand brakes but the
question is: did he apply enough of them?
"He said he applied 11 hand brakes. We think that's not true. Initially we believed him but now we don't."Meanwhile, Quebec Premier Pauline Marois said the company's response to the crash had been lacking.
"We have realised there are serious gaps from the railway company from not having been there and not communicating with the public," Ms Marois said as she announced a 60m Canadian dollar (£38m; $57m) fund to help victims and to rebuild the town.
Criminal negligence Police are still searching the disaster site, and the heart of the town is being treated as a crime scene.
At the centre of the destruction was the Musi-Cafe, a popular bar that was filled at the time of the explosion.
Police earlier said investigators had ruled out terrorism as a cause of the disaster, but criminal negligence remained under consideration.
The train, carrying 72 cars of crude oil, was parked shortly before midnight on Friday in the town of Nantes about seven miles (11km) away.
Local firefighters were later called to put out a fire on the train.
While tackling that blaze, they shut down a locomotive that had apparently been left running to keep the brakes engaged.
Shortly afterwards the train began moving downhill in an 18-minute journey, gathering speed until it derailed in Lac-Megantic and exploded.
The fire department and the train's owners have appeared in recent days to point the finger at one another over the disaster.
Mr Burkhardt suggested on Tuesday evening that firefighters shared some of the blame.
The train was carrying oil from the Bakken oil region in the US state of North Dakota to a refinery on the east coast of Canada.
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