The chief coroner announced Thursday the holding of a public inquiry into the drowning death of firefighter Pierre Lacroix during a rescue operation in the Lachine rapids, in Montreal, last October.
Posted at 6:31 p.m.
Updated at 6:44 p.m.
“The public inquiry aims to shed light on the probable causes and circumstances of Mr. Lacroix’s death. It will also make it possible to formulate, if necessary, recommendations in order to avoid other deaths in similar circumstances”, indicated the office of Mr.and Pascale Descary, by press release.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE archives
On the evening of October 17, 2021, Pierre Lacroix was on board the fireboat that capsized while trying to rescue two boaters aboard a drifting boat in the Lachine Rapids.
More specifically, the process must make it possible to examine and study several aspects of this sad event “with the help of testimonies which will state, among other things, the mission of the nautical rescue and prevention teams, their techniques of ‘intervention and their modes of communication”, it also explains.
Coroner Géhane Kamel has been named as responsible. The latter has conducted several other high-profile investigations in recent years, including those on deaths in CHSLDs during the first wave of COVID-19 and another to clarify the circumstances of the death of Joyce Echaquan under a rain of racist insults at Joliette hospital.
Details and dates to come
For the investigation into the death of Pierre Lacroix, Mr.and Kamel will be assisted by the public inquiry prosecutor, Mr.and Dave Kimpton. The details and dates of the hearings will be known later, specifies the office of the chief coroner.
Remember that Pierre Lacroix, an experienced firefighter, disappeared in the St. Lawrence River during a rescue operation. The boat of the boaters he was trying to rescue with colleagues had capsized in the turbulent waters, long considered impassable.
The surviving citizens escaped unscathed. Three firefighters were taken to hospital with hypothermia. As for the body of Pierre Lacroix, it had been located and fished out the day after the tragedy.
His death sparked a number of reactions and messages of support in the metropolis, thousands of firefighters having converged at the Notre-Dame basilica for his funeral.