Volume 7 • 2020 • Issue 7

Lac-Mégantic: 7 Years After Quebec Dentists’ Crucial Role in Victim Identification Seven years have passed since the deadly rail disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Québec. In the early hours of July 6, 2013, an unattended freight train rolled down an incline and derailed in the middle of Lac-Mégantic’s downtown, causing a fire and the explosion of a convoy of tank cars carrying crude oil. Forty-seven people died in the disaster. This year, Lac-Mégantic inaugurated a memorial site, espace mémoire , designed by architects Pierre Thibault and Jérôme Lapierre, to remember the tragedy and honour the victims. CDA Essentials wanted to pay tribute to the team of Quebec forensic odontologists for their work in the days and weeks that followed the accident. Coroners, pathologists, police and next of kin often turn to forensic odontologists to help identify victims, as teeth and dental records are important tools in such fires and other catastrophes. F our of the forensic odontologists who offered their expertise to identify the Lac‑Mégantic victims are Drs. Sylvain Desranleau, Robert Dorion, Sylvain Laforte and André Ruest. Dr. Dorion is the founder and former director of the odontology section of the Laboratoire de sciences judiciaires et de médecine légale (LSJML), Quebec’s Ministry of Public Security. The forensic odontology section of the laboratory worked tirelessly on the Lac‑Mégantic investigation. In 2013, Dr. Desranleau told CDA Essentials that the team was devoting more than 12 hours a day to the Lac-Mégantic case. He explained how the forensic dentistry experts played a key role in identifying the bodies in this investigation. In the explosion, the fire destroyed much of the physical evidence and personal items, so the dental records were of crucial importance. “We would use radiographs from the dental records of the missing and compare them with radiographs taken of the human remains found at the site of the explosion and fire,” he said. Coordination between authorities and specialists— from the disaster site to the morgue to the forensic lab—was essential. For example, La Sûreté du Québec was responsible for the collection of all antemortem medical and dental records. Once at the lab, the records had to be identified, catalogued, and entered into a database. The postmortem specimens were treated similarly. Co-mingling of the human remains complicated the task. Photo: L’Écho de Frontenac 28 | 2020 | Issue 7