Following a positive identification, permanent coroner in charge of the inquiry, Géhane Kamel, confirms the identification and death of Ms Camille Maheux, said Inspector David Shane, communications manager and spokesman for the City of Montreal (SPVM). .
This is the first victim to be recovered from the rubble last Sunday, he said, adding that its identification was made possible thanks to the expertise of the Forensic Science and Forensic Medicine Laboratory.
So far, two bodies have been extricated from the building and five people are still missing.
However, Inspector David Shane did not rule out the hypothesis that there are other victims in the rubble of the building that burned down in Old Montreal last Thursday and whose fragility makes search operations much more difficult.
The investigation and the search for more victims continues, Mr. Shane assured.
According to him, the initial searches were focused on the most accessible spots, but the further we get to the scene of the fire, the more tools we have to use to reach the floors [décombres].
A pioneer of intimate documentary film
According to Marik Boudreau, a friend and colleague of Ms. Maheux, she was from Saint-Georges de Beauce and worked as a documentary photographer.
She was an outstanding portrait painter and a pioneer of intimate documentary film. She’s primarily photographed women’s movements, LGBTQ communities and marginalized people since the early 1970s, she said in an email to Radio-Canada.
According to her own account, she worked particularly between Montreal and Brazil and several of her photographic works are part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts of Canada.
Inspector David Shane, in charge of communications and spokesman for the Montreal Police Department.
Photo: Radio Canada
Research teams adapt
The fire brigade and police have to adapt their search methods to the condition of the building.
Although they originally planned to dismantle the building brick by brick earlier in the week, authorities have put that option on hold to focus on a more methodical search using a crane, special camera and drone and other things. .
In a press scramble on Wednesday morning, Department Chief Martin Guilbault of the Montreal Fire Department (SIM) said teams can use a crane to remove certain parts from the ruins of the building.
It is also thanks to this technique that a second body was extirpated from the rubble.
We take the pieces, piece by piece, we put them in the basket [de la grue] and put them on the floor. It’s a long job, but we’re meticulous and we keep moving forward, stressed Mr Guilbault.
He also said Tuesday teams were able to descend to the third floor of the building and focus on areas where it is safest to work. However, he could not estimate what percentage of the building has been explored so far, since the operation is being carried out in sections.
On Wednesday, the planned aim was to remove the two still-standing smokestacks to prevent them from collapsing on responders during the search, Mr Guilbault said.
The fire broke out in Old Montreal early last Thursday.
Photo: Radio Canada / Charles Contant
Eventually, authorities are confident they will have access to the entire building, but it could take a few more days.
As the day before, SPVM investigators identified a new area of the building where victims could be found. The latter should be explored on Wednesday.
However, Inspector Shane did not want to venture the exact location of this section to prevent families from deducing the victims’ identities before receiving official confirmation of their deaths.
The SPVM is aware that there is a long wait for families wanting confirmation that their mourning has begun, but Inspector Shane recalled that the Coroner’s Office must first proceed with the formal identification of the victims – a complex process as several People present died in the incident.
All the families of the missing persons and the victims found have been personally contacted by the SPVM investigators and the investigators are in constant contact with the families, he noted.
The police investigation continues to search for the cause of this fire that devastated the building at the intersection of Rue du Port and Place d’Youville last Thursday. No details were released on Wednesday on the matter, with police choosing not to go too far out of respect for the victims’ families.