Eight more bodies have been found in Lac-Mégantic, bringing the official body count up to 13 people after a runaway train carrying crude oil set off a series of explosions and flattened the town's busy downtown.
Some 50 people are said to be missing — a figure that includes the 13 unidentified bodies that have been recovered since the train derailed at about 1 a.m. ET Saturday.
Police are asking family members to provide DNA samples, from things like toothbrushes and combs, from their missing relatives in order to help investigators identify bodies.
About 2,000 residents were forced to leave their homes on Saturday, but 1,500 of those evacuees may be able to return home as soon as Tuesday.

ZOOM INAerial photos of Lac-Mégantic train explosion site

A tragedy that was 'bound to happen'

The leader of Quebec's Coalition Avenir Québec, François Legault, said he expects there will be significant changes to railway regulations after the investigation has been completed.
"It's not acceptable that we see trains with oil so close to houses," he said.
"Many people here say it’s as if it were a tragedy that was bound to happen, to have railway cars coming so close to people,” Legault said.
When asked about railway safety concerns, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said it was too early to discuss causes.
"We don't have a lot of the facts, and it would really not be responsible to comment without all the facts," Harper said.
The prime minister said the federal Transportation Safety Board, and also the police, would be investigating. Police are treating the area as a possible crime scene.
Harper promised to draw lessons from the TSB conclusions to prevent a repeat of such a tragedy.
"We will conduct a very complete investigation," Harper said, "and we will act on the recommendations."

Area off-limits

The area surrounding the derailed tanker cars has remained largely off limits to anyone other than fire crews as they tried to bring the flames under control and prevent further explosions.
Police have been meeting with family members of those still unaccounted for, in order to build files on the missing.
Two of the five confirmed dead have been sent to Montreal for identification, said Geneviève Guilbault, a spokeswoman for the Quebec coroner's office. The three others will be transported later today.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau visited the scene on Monday, and said he was "blown away by the terrible destruction ... but also by the strength and the courage of the people who've come from across the country to help out."\

Environmental impact

Public health and environment officials say they're still assessing the impact of the massive oil leak and fire on the area inside and outside of the security perimeter.
Mélissa Généreux, public health director for Quebec's Eastern Townships, said air quality testing in the area outside the town's core was positive.
"There is no further health risk," she said. "In the downtown, there are still some small anomalies, but frankly, we're going in the right direction, and we're confident today that levels will be completely restored."
Testing is still being done on dust, smoke and oil particles that have built up on homes and yards near the blast site.
"The situation varies from house to house and sector to sector," Généreux said, adding they're still assessing the best way to conduct the cleanup of that material.

Thin layer of oil

Quebec Environment Minister Yves-François Blanchet told CBC’sQuebec AM that he flew over the Chaudière River Sunday to see the extent of the damaged caused by the oil spilled from the derailed tankers.

BEFORE AND AFTERDevastation in Lac-Mégantic

“What we have is a small, very fine, very thin layer of oil which, however, covers almost entirely the river for something like 100 kilometers from Lac-Mégantic to St-Georges-de-Beauce,” he said.
“This is contained at St-Georges-de-Beauce for the time being, most of it, or almost entirely, and we are very confident we will be in a position to be able to pump most of it out of the river. However, there will be some impact.”
He said an estimated 100,000 litres of oil spilled into the river.
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Officials at the scene said contamination to the soil appears to only affect the surface, but further testing will be done by the environment ministry. They stressed that rehabilitation work is the immediate priority.
Medical services located inside the safety zone will be relocated until they are able to return to their spaces, officials said.

Residents still displaced

The town's mayor, Colette Roy-Laroche, implored residents to follow the directions of authorities and stay outside of that zone unless given authorization.
"We’re aware that people are worried about their homes and they're anxious to return to their homes, but we need to do that safely," she said. " That’s what we are looking at now."