LAC-MEGANTIC

At least 20 people were killed and 30 more were likely dead after an unmanned train derailed and exploded in Quebec, Canada on July 6.

An engineer had failed to properly set the brakes on the train, said in a statement issued by the railway company.

The officials said 30 people still missing since July 6 train disaster in a Quebec town were most probably dead.

The specialists in the town asked relatives of the missing ones to bring in toothbrushes, hair brushes, combs and razors so specialists could extract DNA samples from strands of hair.

Investigators would rely on DNA samples from what remained there were to identify victims under the leadership of Tracy Rogers, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Toronto, 

There was a number of different investigative groups trying to define the identity of the missing ones.

The accident devastated the center of the small town 250 kilometers east of Montreal, and forced about 2,000 to flee their homes there.

The train was hauling 73 cars of crude oil when it derailed and blew up just after 1 am in the center of the town.