(Montreal) Road accidents, fires, hit-and-runs: the new year begins with tragedies for several families in Quebec.
In Montreal, two pedestrians aged 30 and 31 were fatally struck during the night from Sunday to Monday in the north of the city, at the corner of Boulevard Henri-Bourassa Ouest and Boulevard de l’Acadie. The driver involved is believed to be a 23-year-old man with a criminal history, according to Jean-Pierre Brabant, media relations officer for the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM).
He fled and was found by the police a little later that night. Speed would be a factor in the accident, according to Jean-Pierre Brabant. A blood sample will also be able to determine if alcohol or drugs were also involved. The twenty-year-old, who is in the hospital, will be met on Monday by SPVM investigators.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Two security perimeters were set up at the end of the night, at the scene of the collisions and where the suspect was arrested.
These are the first two victims of fatal road accidents in Montreal for the year 2024. In total, there were 28 fatal collisions in 2023 in the metropolis, agent Brabant reported on Monday.
Two seriously injured in fire
Late Sunday evening, a fire ravaged an apartment building in Hampstead, a municipality west of Montreal. A 36-year-old man and a 5-year-old boy were seriously injured. Monday morning, they were still in hospital in critical condition, according to the SPVM.
Emergency services were called around 10:10 p.m. Sunday to the building located on Chemin de la Côte-Saint-Luc, near the intersection of Hingston Avenue. The victims were evacuated and the fire was brought under control shortly after midnight.
The fire was believed to be of accidental origin, but an investigation was opened by the SPVM’s arson section, given that two people were seriously injured.
The year 2023 was significant in terms of fires in Montreal. The fire in Old Montreal, where seven people died last March, increased the toll.
The fire at the Good Shepherd Monastery, which housed a concert hall, premises for community organizations, a housing cooperative and housing for seniors, also left its mark in May.
Road accidents before New Year’s Day
New Year’s Eve was also marked by several road accidents in the province. A 14-year-old teenager was between life and death Monday morning after losing control of his ATV in Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci, in Lanaudière, on Sunday afternoon.
In Varennes, in Montérégie, a sixty-year-old woman did not survive after losing control of her vehicle in the evening on Highway 30 West.
In the Laurentians, a pedestrian was struck Saturday evening while trying to come to the aid of a driver who had also had an accident on Route 117, in Mont-Blanc. After being taken to hospital in critical condition, the pedestrian’s life was declared out of danger on Sunday morning.
The Sûreté du Québec’s road report for the holiday season will be made public the week of January 8.