Death toll rises to five in Canadian train blast, 40 still missing

The death toll from the explosion of a runaway freight train in a small Quebec town rose to five and another 40 people are missing, police said.

The driverless train derailed and blew up early Saturday in Lac-Megantic, destroying dozens of buildings in the center of the town.

"Two more people have been recovered, two more bodies, which brings the total to five ... there are about 40 people, more or less, who are considered to be missing," police spokesman Michel Brunet told reporters. "There could be more, there could be less."

Police said late on Saturday they had discovered the remains of one victim.

Maurice Bernier, an official who works for the county, declined to give the number of missing but said the final death toll would climb.

"It is a catastrophe," he told Reuters. - http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/death-toll-rises-five-in-canadian-train-blast-5499738