A lone engineer failed to set brakes properly on an oil-laden train that derailed and exploded in a small Canadian town, the rail company's head said.

The train derailed on a curve and exploded into a huge fireball on Saturday, destroying the centre of the town of Lac-Megantic in Quebec province.The death toll from the incident continues to rise, with 20 people confirmed dead and a further 30 still missing.Edward Burkhardt, the chairman of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, was heckled by locals as he arrived in the devastated town for the first time. He says the company owes them an abject apology, and told reporters he does not think sabotage was behind the explosion.Instead, he said an engineer did not set the handbrakes properly.