Lac-Mégantic video turns up on Netflix
Netflix says it will replace footage of the train derailment used in its series Travelers.
Clouds of dense smoke billow into the night sky as a fire rages, casting an eerie orange glow over a street lined with trees and buildings. For a split second, the shaky video footage shows what appears to be a train car, back-lit by the flames.
The apocalyptic scene in the video depicts Lac-Mégantic, Que., on July 6, 2013, where an unmanned runaway train carrying millions of gallons of crude oil derailed, igniting a blaze that would claim 47 lives and destroy more than half the downtown area.
But recently, much to the dismay of Lac-Mégantic officials and residents, the real footage of the tragedy has surfaced in fictional Netflix original content.
In an episode of Netflix’s Travelers, the incident’s fiery aftermath can be seen as part of a newscast about a nuclear bomb going off in London.
Peacock Alley Entertainment, the Toronto production company behind the series, issued an apology, adding that they would be “replacing the footage in the show.”
Lac-Mégantic Mayor Julie Morin praised the company’s swift reaction, but accused Netflix of using the real video again, this time in its thriller Bird Box.
Early in the film, Sandra Bullock’s character flips through various news channels reporting on a frightening wave of “unexplained mass suicides” around the world. The news reports contain several scenes of doomsday mayhem, including one that bears a striking resemblance to the Lac-Mégantic video in the Travelers episode.
Netflix did not immediately respond to the Bird Box claims.