The permanent coroner in charge of the investigation, Géhane Kamel, has confirmed the death of Mrs. Camille Maheux after a positive identification was made. This makes her the first victim to be recovered from the rubble of the building that burned last Thursday in Old Montreal. Inspector David Shane, the head of communications and spokesperson for the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) said that two bodies have been extricated from the building and five people are still missing. He added that more victims may still be in the rubble, which greatly complicates search operations. The investigation, however, is continuing alongside the search for the other victims.
According to Marik Boudreau, a friend and colleague of the late Ms. Maheux, she was an excellent portrait painter and pioneer of intimate documentaries. Ms. Maheux mainly photographed the women’s movement, LGBTQ communities and marginalized people since the early 1970s. She worked in Montreal and Brazil, and many of her photographic works are in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.
Fire and police crews have been forced to adapt their search methods due to the condition of the structure. The authorities have had to put their plan to dismantle the building brick by brick on hold to focus on a more methodical search. A crane, a specialized camera, and a drone are some of the tools being used. The investigations are continuing to determine the cause of the fire which ravaged the building, and the police have contacted all the families of missing persons and victims.
Following a positive identification, the permanent coroner in charge of the investigation, Géhane Kamel, confirms the identification and death of Mrs. Camille Maheux
said Inspector David Shane, head of communications and spokesperson for the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).
This is the first victim recovered from the rubble last Sunday
he said, adding that his identification was made possible thanks to the expertise of the Laboratory of Forensic Sciences and Forensic Medicine
.
To date, two bodies have been extricated from the building and five people are still missing.
Inspector David Shane, however, has not ruled out the hypothesis that more victims are in the rubble of the building burned last Thursday in Old Montreal and whose fragility greatly complicates search operations.
The investigation and the search to locate other victims are continuing.
assured Mr. Shane.
According to him, the first searches were concentrated in the more easily accessible places, but as we progress in the scene of the fire, we will have to use more and more tools to reach the lower floors which are under the [décombres]
.
A pioneer of intimate documentary
According to Marik Boudreau, a friend and colleague of Ms. Maheux, the latter was from Saint-Georges-de-Beauce and worked as a documentary photographer.
1970″,”text”:”She was an excellent portraitist and pioneer of intimate documentaries. She has mainly photographed the women’s movement, LGBTQ communities and marginalized people since the early 1970s””>She was an excellent portrait painter and pioneer of intimate documentaries. She has primarily photographed the women’s movement, LGBTQ communities and marginalized people since the early 1970s.
she said in an email sent to Radio-Canada.
According to her, she worked in particular between Montreal and Brazil, and many of his photographic works are in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada
.
Research teams adapt
Fire and police crews must adapt their search methods to the condition of the structure.
If they originally planned to dismantle the building brick by brick
at the beginning of the week, the authorities chose to put this option on hold in order to focus on a search more methodical
with a crane, a specialized camera and a drone, among others.
In a press scrum on Wednesday morning, division chief Martin Guilbault, of the Montreal Fire Department (SIM), explained that by using a crane, teams can remove certain pieces from the ruins of the building.
It is also thanks to this technique that a second body was able to be extricated from the rubble.
We take the pieces, piece by piece, we place them in the basket [de la grue] and put them on the ground. It’s a long job, but we are meticulous and we keep moving forward
a souligné M. Guilbault.
He also said that the teams were able to descend to the third floor of the building on Tuesday, focusing on the places where it is safest to work. However, he could not estimate the percentage of the building that has been explored so far, since the operation is rather section par section
.
On Wednesday, the planned objective was to remove the two chimneys still standing to prevent them collapsing on the workers during the search
specified Mr. Guilbault.
The fire broke out early last Thursday in Old Montreal.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Charles Contant
Eventually, the authorities are confident they will have access to the entire building, but it could take several more days.
As they had done the day before, the investigators of the SPVM found a new section of the building where victims might be. This area was to be explored on Wednesday.
Inspector Shane, however, did not want to advance on the exact location of this section to prevent families from deducing the identity of the victims before receiving official confirmation of their death.
The SPVM is well aware that the wait is long for the families, who wish to obtain confirmation to begin their mourning, but Inspector Shane reminded that the Coroner’s Office must first carry out the formal identification of the victims, a process complex given that several people died in the incident.
All the families of the missing persons and of the victims who have been found have been contacted personally by the SPVM investigators and the investigators maintain constant contact with the families.
he still noted.
The police investigation is continuing to determine the cause of this fire which ravaged the building located at the intersection of rue du Port and place d’Youville last Thursday. No details were revealed on this subject on Wednesday, the police preferring not to go too far as a sign of respect for the families of the victims.
The search for victims of the fire that ravaged a building in Old Montreal last Thursday continues, with two bodies extracted from the rubble and five people still missing. The permanent coroner in charge of the investigation has confirmed the identification and death of one of the victims, Camille Maheux, a documentary photographer who was a pioneer of intimate documentaries. The authorities are adapting their search methods to the condition of the structure, with a focus on a more methodical approach that includes the use of a crane, specialized camera, and drone, among other tools. The investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing, and the police are maintaining contact with the families of the victims.