Netflix removes real disaster images from the movie Bird Box

Streaming Service Netflix announced that it would remove from the Bird Box movie footage of a real rail disaster.

The company confirmed in January that the popular thriller contained a brief excerpt from the deadly tragedy of Canada in Lac-Mégantic.

The excerpt was used at the beginning of the film to describe a fictional story about an apocalyptic scenario.

Netflix had initially indicated that it would not replace the images in question.

In a brief statement sent via e-mail to the BBC on Thursday, the company confirmed that it had decided, with the filmmakers of Bird Box, to replace the clip.

"We are sorry for the suffering inflicted on the Lac-Mégantic community," the statement said, without giving any reason to change its decision.

More than 45 people were killed in 2013 when a train carrying crude oil derailed in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. Dozens of homes and businesses were destroyed.

The process of replacing the world clip with an outing of a television series will take several weeks, the company said.

In January, The Quebec Minister of Culture wrote to the CEO of Netflix urging the company to have the clips removed.

On Thursday, on Twitter, she wrote that the change of heart of the streaming service "proves that by remaining united and working together, everything is possible".

Bird Box was not the only Netflix production containing images of the deadly disaster of a train.

Similar sequences were found to have been used in the Canadian-American science fiction drama Travelers.

During the third season of the show, images of Lac-Mégantic's flamboyant downtown could be briefly seen illustrating the fictional coverage of a nuclear bombing in London. These clips were then deleted.

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At the time, the seller of footage that provided the production company behind the show Travelers said he deeply regretted that the footage was "taken from their context and used in entertainment programs ".

She said she would contact customers who have purchased related clips to inform them of "the sensitive nature of these images."