Authorities in Montreal say at least two people were killed in a major fire that ravaged a three-storey building in a historic part of the city and forced dozens of people out of the area. Firefighters battle a fire in Old Montreal on Friday, Oct.4, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Montreal police say the two people killed in a fire that ravaged a three-storey building in a historic part of the city were a woman from France and her seven-year-old daughter.
Insp. David Shane identified the victims as 43-year-old Léonor Geraudie and seven-year-old Vérane Reynaud Geraudie at an afternoon news conference.
He says the other 23 people believed to be in the building when the blaze broke out early Friday morning all made it out, with one person remaining in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
The owner of the building in Old Montreal also owns a nearby heritage building that was the site of a fire that killed seven people in March 2023.
A coroner’s inquest into the 2023 fire has been put on hold until Montreal police conclude their investigation.
Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel says he is trying to find a way for the coroner to combine inquests into both fires in order to accelerate the process.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2024.
