Montreal police say an arrest has been made after a 42-year-old woman was declared dead at the scene of a residential fire in the city’s east end.
Emergency services were called around 7 p.m. Tuesday to an apartment located on Versailles Street, near Forsyth, in the Pointe-aux-Trembles neighbourhood.
The woman was unconscious when she was found by first responders. Despite efforts to resuscitate her, she was declared dead at the scene, according to Montreal police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant.
The case was handed over to homicide investigators as “marks of violence,” possibly by a knife, were discovered on the victim’s body. Police did not provide more details about the injuries.
Police say another woman was found near the scene of the fire. She was injured “in the lower body.”
Brabant says the 29-year-old woman was taken to hospital in a state of shock but her life is not in danger. The relationship between the two women remains unknown.
At first, the woman found near the scene was considered to be an “important witness” but investigators arrested her Wednesday morning.
A security perimeter was still in place near the home where the fire took place and a mobile command post was at the scene on Wednesday.
Investigators said they are trying to establish the sequence of events, as well as understand the causes of the fire.
The major crimes division of the Montreal police is handling the investigation.
This is the ninth homicide to occur this year on the island of Montreal.
— with files from Global’s Kalina Laframboise