A citizen of Saint-Roch-de-l’Achigan in Lanaudière has done everything to try in vain to rescue a woman trapped under the rubble after the explosion at a propane utility.
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The man’s mother-in-law, Suzanne Lafortune, recounted his heroic intervention.
“He saw a woman who had debris on her along with the fire. He tried to take it out, he did everything possible but it kept falling off, he couldn’t and there was also propane so we could hear the bottles exploding,” she said.
The woman admits that her son-in-law is devastated by the events.
“My son-in-law was the first on the scene, he’s even more devastated than me because he tried to save someone and he couldn’t,” she testifies.
The devastating explosion and ensuing fire happened very quickly, according to the store’s neighbor.
“The explosion occurred inside the building. So the roof was blown off, the windows, the doors, everything was done in an instant, very, very quickly,” says Ms. Lafortune.
The brave few who tried to intervene had little time to act.
“Those who could do something tried, but nothing can be done,” laments the woman, who confides that her son-in-law is “very emotional”.
“He blames himself for not making it,” she says.