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Firefighters, police to begin searching rubble of burned Old Montreal building

"We won't be able to give names very fast. We cannot make a mistake," police say.

Firefighters continue to investigate the scene of the fire in Old Montreal on Monday March 20, 2023. Dave Sidaway / Montreal Gazette
Firefighters continue to investigate the scene of the fire in Old Montreal on Monday March 20, 2023. Dave Sidaway / Montreal Gazette Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

Six people are still missing after a fire tore through a historic building in Old Montreal on Thursday.

Police and firefighters are going to start doing a manual and meticulous search through the rubble today, Montreal police Inspector David Shane said Tuesday morning. Certain parts of the building have been identified as potentially the areas where victims could be found, he said.

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“These areas have been targeted as a result of reconstruction work and the probable positioning of the victims in the building at the time of the fire,” Shane said. “We want to find every missing person and find the cause and circumstances of this fire.”

Police and firefighters were not able to enter the building on Monday.

“Due to the risk of collapse of the structure, firefighters were unable to physically enter the site because of safety reasons,” said Montreal fire chief Martin Guilbualt.

Today they will use a crane to approach the rubble to do their search, he said.

Shane said families will be asked to provide DNA samples to help with identification of the victims. He warned that the process of identifying any victims will be long.

“For the public and families, they will feel that this process is long and unbearable,” Shane said. “We won’t be able to give names very fast. We cannot make a mistake.”

Quebec coroner Gehane Kamel is investigating the fire.

“The main objective of my work is to provide answers to the families, and possibly make recommendations,” she said Tuesday.

Nine people were injured in the fire, which destroyed the three-storey building at Place d’Youville and Port Sts.

This story will be updated.

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