Montreal hearth officers now say not less than six individuals are lacking after a blaze destroyed a constructing within the metropolis's historic district Thursday.
Investigators initially mentioned one particular person was believed to be lacking within the hearth that additionally injured one other 9 individuals.
"The knowledge confirmed in the previous couple of hours, from numerous sources, permits us to consider that there could also be victims contained in the particles," Montreal hearth operations chief Martin Guilbault mentioned Saturday.
The reason for the hearth stays unknown, and Guilbault instructed reporters that the investigation is being led by the Montreal police arson squad.
Hearth officers mentioned two of the 9 injured individuals suffered severe burns and stay in hospital.
Throughout the evacuation, six individuals needed to be rescued from the three-storey constructing by ladder.
On Saturday, firefighters had been nonetheless unable to enter the constructing that housed an architectural agency and residences.
"Right now, it's not potential to conduct a secure search within the constructing, which should first be secured," Guilbault mentioned.
"Over the weekend, officers can be engaged on a response plan to permit our groups to conduct a secure search whereas making an attempt to protect the heritage construction," he mentioned.
Montreal police arson commander Steve Belzil mentioned that investigators are centered on gathering info from the individuals who lived within the constructing. He added that that they had already met with the individuals who had been hospitalized.
"As you recognize, the positioning just isn't accessible for us to begin our investigation, so a drone allowed us to go and get pictures," Belzil mentioned.
Belzil was not capable of affirm whether or not the six lacking individuals had been tenants of the constructing or vacationers staying in a short-term rental.
"Proper now, we're not speaking about arson. It was transferred (to the police) as a result of we've purpose to consider that there are victims, deaths," Belzil defined.
In complete, 130 firefighters responded to the hearth to maintain it from spreading.
Montreal hearth Chief Richard Liebmann mentioned Thursday there was some confusion over how many individuals had been contained in the Outdated Montreal constructing on the time of the hearth, as a result of a number of residences had been Airbnb leases.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed March 18, 2023.
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