LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A Canadian town devastated after a runaway freight train derailed and killed 47 people in July will see service resume this week, the town's mayor said.
The first rail cars will rumble through Lac-Megantic, Quebec, Wednesday -- a six-car train expected to be transporting dry goods, not the crude oil that caused a massive fireball to explode as the oil gushed from cars following the derailment.
In total, the derailment effected 31 hectares of soil and contaminated the Chaudiere River. The Canadian federal government has pledged to cover half the cleanup cost, which is pegged at $190 million. Investigations into the rail company and the energy company that owned the oil are under way.
Lac-Megantic Mayor Colette Roy-Laroche said she's encouraging residents disturbed by the return of rail transportation in the area to seek counseling from grief specialists who will be made available to the public, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., reported Monday.
"We've invited people to contact various psycho-social services if they need it," she said.
