Three men charged in a criminal negligence trial stemming from a 2013 derailment that killed 47 people in the Canadian province of Quebec have all been found not guilty.

The jury of eight men and four women reached the verdict on Friday after nine days of deliberations.

A runaway train carrying crude oil from North Dakota derailed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec and exploded on July 6, 2013, levelling much of the downtown.

Engineer Tom Harding and former colleagues Richard Labrie and Jean Demaitre each faced one count of criminal negligence causing the death of 47 people. They pleaded not guilty.

Labrie was the traffic controller and Demaitre was the manager of train operations.