MMA Bankruptcy: Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Was in Lac-Megantic Derailment

Workers comb through debris on July 9 after a run away oil train derailed July 6, 2013 causing explosions, fire and destroying parts of Lac-Megantic, Quebec. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

Montreal, Maine & Atlantic, the train operator behind the deadly Lac-Megantic, Quebec train crash last month, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

A clerk in Bangor, Maine, told WABI-TV that the company filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday.

Last month, 47 people were killed in Lac-Megantic after a MM&A train carrying oil derailed, causing a massive fire. Dozens of buildings in the town were destroyed.

The company also fired 62 workers after the crash.

MMA is claiming $50 million to $100 million in assets, according to WLBZ-TV.

Company Chairman Ed Burkhardt said earlier that the company would have to file for bankruptcy due to service disruptions  over the crash, reported The Associated Press.

The parked train, with 72 tankers full of crude oil, was unattended when it began rolling toward town, eventually derailing downtown. Several tankers exploded, destroying 40 buildings in the lakeside town of 6,000 residents.

The company blamed the train’s operator for failing to set enough hand brakes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.