Lac-Mégantic celebrates the 10th anniversary of a railway disaster that killed 47 people

A stream of flickering lights illuminated the gloom of Lac-Mégantic in the early hours of Thursday morning as citizens marched to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the rail disaster that killed 47 people and destroyed much of downtown.

A silent march began just before 1:14 a.m. and marked the moment when an unattended crude oil train derailed and exploded in the heart of the city on July 6, 2013.

People donned star-shaped LED lights in memory of the victims as the mayor led a march that departed from the church and made its way down the former main street flattened by the disaster, pausing at a memorial built on the place where the train struck.

For Michelle Dubé, who lost a niece in the tragedy, the memories of 10 years ago remain vivid.

“You don’t forget something like that,” she said. “It will take generations to forget.”

Dubé said her niece, Marie-France, “perished in the flames” along with her home and the boutique she had owned on the town’s main street, destroying the buildings so completely that her remains were never found. While that adds an extra layer of pain, Dubé said nearly everyone in the city of 6,000 has a loss story.

“They are uncles, parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, sisters, friends,” she said. “It’s a small town, everyone knows everyone.”

The city has planned several days of events to highlight the anniversary, including concerts, exhibitions about the city’s past and present, and a memorial mass at 11 a.m. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier François Legault are both expected to participate in the events honoring the victims.

A citizens’ group will also lay flowers at the railway line that still runs through the center and hold a rally to call for stricter rules to ensure rail safety.

The derailment and fire destroyed much of the downtown area, forced about 2,000 people from their homes and leaked some six million gallons of crude oil into the environment.

The disaster happened when the brakes of a parked train in nearby Nantes failed and hurtled down the slope into the city.

While a number of investigations, lawsuits, reports and regulatory changes have followed, many challenges remain.

A long-promised rail bypass to stop trains from running through the city center has not yet been built, and the proposed route is meeting fierce opposition from residents of nearby towns whose land is about to be expropriated.

Meanwhile, railway safety activists and the city’s mayor have said trains carrying dangerous goods through the city have only gotten longer, raising fears of another disaster.

However, the city says it wants to keep the focus of this week’s events on remembering the victims, comforting the survivors and highlighting the progress made.

The early morning march included a walk through the new main street, with newly built shops, as a way to emphasize the rebuilding of the city.

Nicole Isabelle, a resident of the march, said she felt the birthday will help residents move forward, “even if it’s hard to get through.”

Isabelle, who knew several victims, said one of her vivid memories is of people gathering at the shrine after the derailment, holding pictures of their loved ones as the church was filled with flowers.

In the ten years that have passed, she says that both the city and the people who live in it have taken “great strides” toward rebuilding.

“We managed to move forward,” she said. “But like any mourning, it’s never really over.”