Two more bodies recovered from Quebec train derailment site

LAC-MEGANTIC, Que. -- There will be a memorial mass for the victims of the Lac-Megantic disaster on July 27.

A parish priest announced the event which will be held at 11 a.m., two Saturdays from now.

Father Steve Lemay made it clear that the event will not be a group funeral, nor will urns be brought to the church.

He said it will be a chance for the community -- and for Quebecers as a whole -- to grieve together. He added that victims' families, however, will have priority seating in St. Agnes church for the mass.

"This ceremony will allow the community here, as well as all the Quebec public, to offer a collective tribute to the victims of the tragedy," Lemay said Monday.

"It will be a moment to gather, and mark an important step in our grieving process."

Authorities say they have recovered two more bodies, bringing the official toll to 37. Fifty people are believed to have died in the July 6 disaster.

Among the emergency measures, $1,000 cheques are being handed out to people displaced by the disaster to help them cover expenses.

The first 390 cheques were handed out today.

• 

  A fireman drives by a charred car on the site of a train crash explosion in Lac-Megantic, Que., Monday, July 15, 2013. (Jacques Boissinot / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

• 

  Excavators search the rubble on the site of a train crash explosion in Lac-Megantic, Que., Monday, July 15, 2013. (Jacques Boissinot / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

• 

  Father Steve Lemay speaks as Mayor Colette Roy-Laroche looks on during a press conference in Lac-Megantic, Que., on Monday, July 15, 2013. (Ryan Remiorz / THE CANADIAN PRESS)