Canadian Train Wreck: Was it sabotage?

By now, perhaps you’ve heard the tragic news that Lac-Mégantic – a small town with a population of 6000 in the Canadian province of Quebec, 155 miles (250km) from Montreal – has been devastated by a petrochemical explosion & fire subsequent to a train derailment in that town. Thirteen people are confirmed dead, and 50 are missing… their bodies possibly vaporized by the intense heat of the 72-car blast.

According to officials, some of whom remain unnamed, the train’s engineer was taking his required sleep break in a nearby motel, when, again, according to authorities, the train’s brakes “failed,” which then caused the train to begin rolling unabated for nearly 7 miles (11km) before crashing & burning.

In a related news item this morning, Edward Burkhardt, Chairman of the Board of Rail World Inc., and Chairman of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway – the parent company of the railroad firm which owns the train – said

Tornado rips severe damage through Albertville, Alabama.

!*! – UPDATED – Tuesday, 27 April 2010, with aerial pics by Eric Shultz, Photographer, Huntsville Times – UPDATED – !*!

Saturday evening, April 24, 2010, around 9:30PM CST, a F3 category tornado twisted its way through the rural north Alabama community of Albertville, Alabama in Marshall County. Ironically, it was on the centennial-second anniversary of a 1908 tornado that devastated the town, nearly wiping it from the map.

Fortunately, though no lives were lost, there were about three dozen injuries reported, some severe, with one transported to another larger hospital facility out of the area.

Damage was severe, wreaking havoc and destruction in Albertville and the smaller, nearby community of Geraldine. Damage was so severe, that Albertville schools will be closed for this week,