The identities of four of the victims of the March 16 fire in Old Montreal were revealed Monday while firefighters and Montreal police officers extricated two other victims from the rubble. Meanwhile, the city is being singled out for its inability to ensure the safety of buildings on its territory.
The permanent coroner in charge of this inquiry, Géhane Kamel, has confirmed the identities of four people in their 30s who died in the deadly fire which broke out in a three storey listed building. They are An Wu, Saniya Khan and Dania Zafar, all three aged 31, and Nathan Sears, who was 35 at the time of the tragedy.
Several of these victims were in transit through Canada, coming in particular from the United States, according to various reports published in recent days. These names are added to those of Camille Maheux, 76, who was the first victim of this fire whose identity has been revealed by the authorities.
“We also located and extricated two additional victims from the rubble this morning, bringing the number of victims found so far to seven,” said Inspector David Shane of the Montreal Police Department (SPVM) during a news conference. “At this time the police department really has no information that would indicate that we are looking for anyone else,” Mr. Shane continued.
At the same time, measures to secure the building were taken this weekend, which made it possible to establish “direct access through the outer door”. Two volunteer dog handlers from the Quebec Association of Search and Rescue Volunteers and investigators were able to enter the building on Saturday to continue searching the rubble.
If the search with dogs, which continued Monday, confirms that this fire did not claim any other victims, investigators can focus on determining the cause of the fire. At this point, the SPVM has not ruled out any hypothesis, including that of arson.
isolated cases?
At the time of the fire, several units in this building were being rented out illegally on short-term rental platforms. According to several former tenants of the building that burned down in recent days, at least one room in the building had no window, which poses a safety concern.
The department head of the Montreal Fire Safety Service (SSIM), Martin Guilbault, pointed out on Monday that the Montreal firefighters were on the verge of the fire of 16. However, he did not want to comment on the findings of these inspectors on site.
Le Devoir also revealed on Friday that the Ville-Marie district has approved plans to remodel another building in Old Montreal owned by the same owner, Emile-Haim Benamor, though two rooms in this hostel don’t have windows or emergency exits.
“Is this something that was only done once? [approuver des chambres sans fenêtres] or has it happened more than once? Questioned Ensemble Montreal leader Aref Salem on the sidelines of a press conference on Monday. “If we file a permit for a major conversion, the borough can at least ensure that you have a fire prevention system in place,” added the opposition member-elect, who blamed the inspection work done by the Ville-Marie borough.
“In this case, the inspections were conducted by the city of Montreal. Do we have to come and reinforce [le processus menant à l’octroi de permis] ? Certainly,” for her part, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante conceded during her appearance on the show Everyone’s Talking About It on Sunday. She then indicated that she asked SSIM to hold an “emergency meeting” with the various stakeholders involved in the process leading to the city’s approval of these types of permits, including the Régie du Bâtiment and the Administrative Court.
With Jeanne Corriveau