Firefighters battle a fire in Old Montreal on Friday, Oct.4, 2024. Montreal police say they've arrested two suspects in connection with a fatal Old Montreal fire that claimed the lives of two French nationals earlier this month. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
MONTREAL – Police say they’ve arrested two suspects in an Old Montreal fire last week that claimed the lives of two French nationals.
Léonor Geraudie, 43, and seven-year-old Vérane Reynaud Geraudie, were identified by authorities as the victims of the Oct. 4 blaze on Notre-Dame Street East.
Police said that when fire broke out there were 25 people inside the building, which housed a restaurant and wine bar on the ground floor and a 19-room hostel above.
They will give further details on the investigation at a news conference this afternoon.
The fire was the second deadly blaze in the historic neighbourhood in less than two years, after a March 2023 fire in a building that housed short-term rentals killed seven people.
City records list both buildings as belonging to the same owner, and police have said they suspect arson in both cases.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
