People make their way around a fallen tree following an ice storm in Montreal, Thursday, April 6, 2023. More than one million customers in Quebec and Ontario were without power Wednesday after a messy mix of freezing rain and thunderstorms pummeled parts of both provinces.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
MONTREAL – Quebec Premier Francois Legault says a man died this morning after bringing his barbecue indoors during a power outage caused by this week’s ice storm.
The death in Ste-Eustache, Que., is the third attributed to Wednesday’s storm, which coated parts of southern Quebec and eastern Ontario in ice and left more than a million without power.
As of this afternoon, crews in both provinces were working to restore power to more than 500,000 customers, mostly in Quebec.
Legault did not say how the third man died, but Montreal’s health authority said dozens of people suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning after using outdoor appliances inside during the blackout.
Officials say they received more than 60 reports of CO poisoning over the course of several hours today, while emergency rooms were at 200 per cent capacity.
Legault announced the latest death while touring Les Coteaux, Que., where another man died while attempting to cut down tree branches on his property on Thursday.
Provincial police have said that man was struck by one of the branches and died at the scene.
Meanwhile, Ontario Provincial Police confirmed today that another man died on Wednesday after he was struck by a falling tree branch at his home in South Stormont, Ont.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2023.
