One man is dead and two others are injured after a building in Montreal North partially collapsed on Saturday.
Authorities say the incident happened around 4 p.m. in a building that was seemingly under construction. Emergencies crews were called and firefighters found the victims in the rubble in the building’s basement.
The body of the man who died was found shortly after 10 p.m. after firefighter’s lifted the ground floor’s concrete slab which had collapsed. Paramedics said his death was pronounced on site.
The other two men have serious injuries but police couldn’t provide any further details on their health status. Five people were in the building at the time of the incident.
The Montreal fire department says the front of the building was uninhabited due to a fire a few years back, but renovations seem to have been taking place as construction materials were present.
Residents of ten apartments and two businesses at the back of the building were temporarily evacuated until a structural engineer confirms that the building is safe to return.
Quebec’s workplace safety board (CNESST) will be looking into the circumstances around the incident which led to the death.
The case was transferred to the Montreal police and the CNESST.