One person is dead, another is injured and two people are in hospital to be treated for shock after two planes collided above Promenades Saint-Bruno shopping centre on Friday, according to Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux.
Each plane had only one male pilot, police said. The identity of the pilot who died has not been released, however police did say the second pilot’s injuries are non-life-threatening.
Sources from the aviation industry told Quebec’s TVA news that both pilots were Chinese, and knew each other.
One of the planes crashed in the parking lot, while the other ended up on the roof just before 1 p.m. Friday.
TSB senior investigator Isabelle Langevin said it’s too early to know the cause of the crash, but investigators are currently collecting data.
“We understand people want answers rapidly,” Langevin said Friday night.
Her team of investigators will interview witnesses, take photographs and check maintenance records.
She said the plane will eventually be moved to Ottawa for further investigation.
WATCH: The Transportation Safety Board updated their investigation into a mid-air collision that occurred Friday afternoon over a shopping mall in a Montreal suburb.
An officer said kerosene from the plane that crashed on the roof leaked into the shopping mall, forcing police to evacuate the entire building.
It has been evacuated and is now closed. Officials say it will remain closed on Saturday.
The mall is in the south shore city of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, about 25 minutes from Montreal.
Longueuil police have secured a perimeter around the accident site and are asking people to avoid the area.
‘A loud boom’
Nheil Martinez, who works inside the mall, was outside smoking a cigarette when he says he saw the shadow of a plane and heard its motor.
“I heard the motor so low to the ground and then a loud boom,” he said.
“Then we saw pieces of plane fall out of the sky everywhere.”
Martinez said he ran to the plane and saw a man inside, whose body was crushed.
Jonathan Vanasse was eating inside a mall restaurant next to the crash site. He said he and several others ran outside and saw the plane, which he said was leaking fuel.
“There was just shredded metal,” he said, referring to what was left of the aircraft.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) announced it was deploying a team of investigators to the site.
The TSB said in a statement both planes were Cessna 152 aircraft operated by Cargair.
Cargair said in a news release it was working with authorities and offered its sympathies to the families of the pilots.
“We are concentrating our efforts to support our employees and students who are part of the Cargair family,” the company said, adding it wouldn’t be issuing any further comment.
Quebec Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux took to Twitter to send his condolences to the families of the two pilots.
Witnesses are asked to meet police at the nearby Cage aux Sports at 1201 des Promenades Blvd.
— With files from Global’s Matt Grillo and The Canadian Press.