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Train Explosion Razes Canadian Town

At least one confirmed dead.

At least one person is dead and up to 1,000 were evacuated when a freight train derailed and four of its cars loaded with crude oil exploded in Lac-Mégantic, a small town in the Quebec province. Around 30 buildings in the town were destroyed in the blast, and many people are missing. The fires are still burning, and the fear of additional explosions has made efforts to assess causalities impossible, but eyewitnesses describe a busy city center at the time of the blast. The town's mayor, Colette Roy-Laroche, spoke through tears at a news briefing. "When you see the center of your town almost destroyed," she said, "you'll understand that we're asking ourselves how we are going to get through this event."