“Security breach”: they boast of having clandestinely climbed the Samuel-De Champlain bridge

The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) opened an investigation after daredevils having fun climbing the tallest skyscrapers in Montreal and publishing their exploits on social networks managed to clandestinely climb the Samuel Bridge tower -From Champlain.

In a video posted on Sunday, January 21 on TikTok, we can see individuals accessing the bowels of the infrastructure spanning the St. Lawrence River, between Montreal and the South Shore.

In sequences that are enough to make you dizzy, at least two of them then film themselves perched at the top of the bridge tower, which rises to 170 m.

“Security breach”

“It is not normal for unauthorized individuals to be able to access with impunity the main tower of the Samuel-De Champlain Bridge (PSDC) or any other infrastructure of the PSDC corridor,” declared the communications department of the Signature Group on the Saint-Laurent (SSL), responsible for the maintenance and operation of the bridge.

SSL was able to establish with surveillance cameras that the intrusion occurred on the night of January 20 to 21. The individuals would have started their operation in the dark, before leaving after sunrise.

“This intrusion constitutes a security breach and we are carrying out an internal investigation to determine the causes and ultimately recommend the corrective measures to be put in place,” continued SSL.

The group also contacted the police.

“A complaint was filed on January 22 at the Champlain neighborhood station. We have an ongoing investigation,” said Catherine Bernard, spokesperson for the SQ.

They climb everywhere in Montreal

The people behind the account where the video was published agreed to answer the Journal’s questions, however refusing to reveal their real identity. They identify themselves as three men in their twenties, from Laval, Montreal and Brossard. They say all three took part in the intrusion on the bridge.

“It’s really for the adrenaline that we do this. Publish it [sur les réseaux sociaux]it’s more secondary,” said one of them.

“It took me 4 or 5 months I would say. I went several times to figure out how to get back. We went under the bridge, below the REM,” says a second.

The daredevils are not afraid of being cornered by the police, who have “more important things to deal with”, according to them.

Their account in question is full of videos where we observe people whose faces we never see climbing various infrastructures in the metropolis.

In particular, they were able to access the roof of several skyscrapers in the city center, such as 1000 De La Gauchetière. Another video also shows people walking in the bowels of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge.

This type of content, mixing urban exploration and parkour, is very popular on social networks. Several YouTubers and TikTokers from all over the world are doing it.

The practice, however, is high risk. In July 2023, a French extreme climber and photographer died after falling 220 meters from a Hong Kong skyscraper.

“These unplanned intrusions pose a risk both to the offenders themselves and to the general public as well as to emergency services personnel and our staff who are called upon to respond to such events,” warned the SSL group.