Repost from The Montreal Gazette

Coroner identifies 40th victim of Lac-Mégantic disaster, Admits that remaining 7 missing people will never be identified

MONTREAL — Using microscopic bone fragments and DNA samples, forensic anthropologists have identified the 40th victim of the train derailment at Lac-Mégantic last July.

Jimmy Sirois, 30, has been positively identified and removed from the list of missing persons.

The Quebec coroner’s office had a monumental task after the explosion and fire that decimated the town of Lac Mégantic on July 6.

In all, 47 people were reported dead and with the positive identification of Sirois there are still seven officially classified as missing.

In a statement, the coroner’s office said that due to the intense heat of the fire, fed by tanker trucks full of volatile petroleum products, and the destruction to human remains, it will be impossible to identify any more of the missing, who are:

Jacques Giroux, 65, Denise Dubois, 57, Marie-France Boulet, 62, Richard Veilleux, 63, Louisette Poirier, 76, Willfried Ratsch, 77 and Bianka Charest Bégnoche, 9.