Two more bodies recovered from Lac-mégantic ruins

Two officers injured by heat, chemicals while searching for remains in wreckage

LAC-MÉGANTIC, Que. Police recovered another two bodies amid the ruins of downtown Lac-Mégantic, Que., on Monday, bringing the total number of victims to 37.

Another 13 are believed to be hidden somewhere in the rubble after a runaway train derailed and exploded in the southeastern Quebec town on July 6.

The coroner’s office identified another three victims on Monday after calling on relatives of the dead last week to provide investigators with DNA samples. So far, the remains of 11 victims have been positively identified.

About 50 officers have been tasked with the job of sifting through the wreckage downtown for human remains, according to Sûreté du Québec spokesman Michel Forget.

Their work, he says, begins shortly before sunrise and ends only at dusk. Temperatures in the blast site, or Red Zone, exceed 50 degrees and working conditions amid the wreckage are dangerous.

Two officers were sidelined with injury on Sunday — one suffered heatstroke and the other suffered burns to an eye after being exposed to chemical irritants on site.

A crew of 12 workers is draining the crude oil that remains in the dozens of overturned tankers that line the Red Zone. They’re also decontaminating the soil from downtown, which has made the air hazardous and continues to pose a challenge for the firefighters and police working in the area.

The crew was hired by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic, the company that owned and operated the freight train that derailed. They’re working under close police supervision, Forget said.

‘It’s a long, difficult process for the families. We plan and support the families throughout this time.’ GENEVIEVE GUILBAULT Quebec coroner’s office

Genevieve Guilbault, of the Quebec coroner’s office, says identifying the victims is only the first step in the long process of returning victims’ bodies to their families.

Autopsies must also be performed and the cause of death has to be determined before a death certificate can be issued.

The coroner’s office will be in touch with the families in the coming days, providing them with information on how to retrieve the remains of their loved ones.

“It’s a long, difficult process for the families,” Guilbault said.

“We plan and support the families throughout this time.”

PHIL CARPENTER /POSTMEDIA NEWS People stand on the steps of Sainte-Agnes Church on Monday to look inside the ‘red zone’ in Lac-Mégantic, Que., where the known death toll now stands at 37.