By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent
A fireball has engulfed a Canadian town after a train carrying crude oil derailed, sparking several explosions.
One person has been killed, according to police, but several people were reported missing.
The crash happened as the unmanned 73-car freight train travelled through the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic, a lakeside town with a population of 6,000, on Saturday morning.
Fires continued burning nearly 24 hours after the accident and up to 2,000 people were forced from their homes.
The train's operator confirmed it had been parked out of town, but they are unsure how it "got released".
More than 1,000 residents were told to leave the area (Pic: Quebec police) Massive flames and thick smoke could be seen. The derailment caused several tanker rail cars to explode in the downtown area.
Lieutenant Guy Lapointe, a spokesman with Quebec provincial police, said: "I don't want to get into numbers, what I will say is we do expect we'll have other people who will be found deceased unfortunately.
"We also expect that down the line the number of people who are reported missing with regards to people who have actually lost their lives will be much higher."
No one was on board the train when it rolled into the town, according to the operator the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway (MMAR) company.
Edward Burkhardt, president and CEO of Rail World Inc, the parent company of MMAR, said: "If brakes aren't properly applied on a train, it's going to run away.
"But we think the brakes were properly applied on this train.
A train wagon burning after the explosion "We've had a very good safety record for these 10 years. Well, I think we've blown it here."
Mayor Colette Roy-LaRoche was nearly in tears as she addressed the media, according to the Montreal Gazette.
"When you see the downtown of your city almost destroyed you think, how are we going to get through this? But I can assure everyone here that all the authorities and ministries have been very supportive," she said.
"We've deployed all the resources possible."
Four tanker cars blew up after the train, which had 73 cars in all, came off the rails shortly after 1am local time.
Environmental experts have also arrived in the town to assess how much oil may have spilled into the Chaudiere River.
Environment Quebec spokesman Christian Blanchette said: "Right now, there is big smoke in the air, so we have a mobile laboratory here to monitor the quality of the air.
"We also have a spill on the lake and the river that is concerning us.
"We have advised the local municipalities downstream to be careful if they take their water from the Chaudiere River."
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