Examination of the remains of the building in Old Montreal that burned down last Thursday did not find any new victims on Monday.
A crane will be used on Tuesday to allow teams to explore more closely certain areas of the building where bodies of victims may be found.
Six people are still missing after the disaster, confirmed Inspector David Shane, of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), in a press scrum on Tuesday morning. The body of a woman, whose identity has not yet been announced, was extricated from the remains of the building on Sunday evening.
Division chief Martin Guilbault of the Montreal Fire Department (SSIM) explained that the day before, it was impossible for the various teams to enter the rubble of the building located at the intersection of rue du Port and Place d’Youville “because of the risk of the burnt structure collapsing”.
Inspector Shane said authorities believe they have been able to identify areas of the building where dead bodies may be found. Equipment, including a crane, will be used on Tuesday so that the teams can approach the rubble, without however being able to walk through it.
“Police and firefighters are going to be from the basket, because right now it’s not safe for them to walk, there’s a risk of the ground collapsing,” Inspector Shane explained. .
“So the crane will lift them into the air and drop them as close to the ground as possible. Using gaffs, poles and various instruments, including cameras, (they) will be able to search through the rubble in search of victims in places that have been targeted by the investigation. »
The police spotted some places of interest following a reconstruction that allowed them to determine where the apartments were and where the missing people were likely to be.
Inspector Shane also clarified that the work is even more difficult given the state of the building, in particular because of the “wallpaper” collapse of the roof to the lower floors.
“There are places where the roof has collapsed on the floors and the floors are stacked on top of each other. We are facing a scene of destruction, ”he summed up.
On Monday, Chief Guilbault recalled that several stages of the dismantling of the building would be necessary in order to give safe access to the premises to the stakeholders. The complex work could take one to two weeks.
For his part, the director of the SPVM, Fady Dagher, declared that the investigation could well be of a criminal nature, although it is still too early to assume a hypothesis concerning the cause of the fire.
Identification of victims
At Tuesday’s press scrum, Inspector Shane and Chief Guilbault were accompanied by Géhane Kamel, permanent coroner in charge of the investigation, and Suzanne Marchand, senior director general of the Laboratory of Forensic Sciences and Forensic Medicine.
Ms. Marchand explained the work that awaits the scientists in order to identify the victims. She pointed out that to avoid any mistake, since several victims are involved, the experts will need to confirm the identity of the victims through two methods, one of which must be scientific. In particular, tests by DNA comparison and dental analysis will be carried out.
To facilitate the work of identification, the police will therefore ask the families of the alleged victims to provide them with objects likely to contain DNA in order to be able to make comparisons.
“There will be ways to be able to quickly confirm the identity of the victims, but it is certain that the state of the bodies brings complexity when they are not in a perfect state of preservation,” added Ms. Marchand.
Coroner Kamel explained that her role will be to work with the police to determine the causes and circumstances of the deaths. “The main focus of my role is to provide answers to families,” she mentioned.