Four tanker cars of petroleum exploded in the east Canadian province of Quebec after a train derailed, leaving flames billowing hundreds of feet into the sky. Some 30 buildings were destroyed, and 1,000 evacuated from their homes. Several remain missing.

“It’s dreadful,” Lac-Megantic resident Claude Bedard told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “It’s terrible. We’ve never seen anything like it. The Metro store, Dollarama, everything that was there is gone.”

The 73-tanker train left the tracks shortly after 1 a.m. local time as it was passing through the French-speaking lakeside town of Lac-Megantic, causing a huge fireball to rise into the night sky. Witnesses told Reuters they heard at least five loud blasts. The fire spread to a number of homes. Approximately 1,000 of the town’s 6,000 residents have been evacuated, with many missing. Quebec provincial police Lt. Michel Brunet told a press briefing it is too early to say if there are any casualties.

“I can say absolutely nothing about victims…we’ve been told about people who are not answering their phones, but you have to understand that there are people who are out of town and on holiday,” he said. Around 20 fire engines have been battling the inferno, which they fear could spread as many tanker cars are still at risk of exploding. Firetrucks have been dispatched from northern Maine, US, to assist.

“There are still wagons which we think are pressurized. We’re not sure because we can’t get close, so we’re working on the assumption that all the cars were pressurized and could explode. That’s why progress is slow and tough,” said local fire chief Denis Lauzon.