Product: Standard PubDate: 11-30-2013 Zone: Atl Edition: 1 Page: F1 ( Focus_1093497) User: cci Time: 11-29-2013 12:08 Colour: C K M Y A ONLINE VIDEO 9 Watch survivors from the Musi-Café recalling the day leading up to the tragic derailment TGAM.CA/MUSICAFE EBOOK 9 Download the eBook version of Last Call TGAM.CA/EBOOKS SECTION F SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2013 ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... FOCUS EDITOR: JULIE TRAVES L A S T C A L L The inside story of the Lac-Mégantic train disaster On July 6, 2013, a runaway train carrying millions of litres of crude oil derailed in the heart of Lac-Mégantic. The tangled wreck exploded, transforming the town’s main drag into a river of fire. Many of the 47 people who died in the disaster were inside the Musi-Café, a popular bar packed with friends, lovers, neighbours, husbands and wives. Justin Giovannetti reconstructs a night of terror as seen through the eyes of the survivors. Photography by Moe Doiron LAC-MÉGANTIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . uc had been staring into Julie’s eyes for most of the evening. L They had been chatting online for weeks, the exchanges heartfelt and hackneyed – what you’d expect from lovestruck high-school students, not two grownups pushing 40. But neither had planned to run into the other at a local bar: an accidental first date, one of the dangers of living in a small town. They sat side-by-side on a leafy terrace, at the end of the first warm day of summer in Lac-Mégantic. A large crowd had streamed past, heading home just after 1 a.m. on July 6. Julie’s friend Karine got up and left the two alone, winking at them as she walked inside the bar. As the pair chatted, their knees brushed. Two fresh pints of Belgian white beer sat in front of them, untouched. At 1:14 a.m., both Luc Dion and Julie Heon noticed a blur at the edge of their vision. They heard a strong wind, the ground began to shake. They knew what was coming; the shape was unmistakable. The lights on the train were off. No horn had sounded its approach. Freight trains typi- cally crept through the centre of town at 10 kilometres per hour, but this one was mov- ing 10 times that fast. The sound of the level crossing was muffled as thousands of tonnes of locomotives and rail cars blew past the dormant lights. Luc and Julie leaped to their feet, just as the piercing cries rose around them: “It’s going to derail!” The story of the survivors, Pages 3-7 Frontenac Street, in Lac Megantic, on the night of the disaster . BERNARD THEBERGE FOR THE GLOBE AND MAIL ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... @globeandmail facebook.com/theglobeandmail Connect with us:
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