A man has died and two others were injured after the partial collapse of a building on Saturday afternoon in Montreal.
The city’s Fire Department said firefighters discovered the body of the man at about 10:15 p.m. in the rubble of the building in the Montréal-Nord borough.
Authorities say the concrete slab of the ground floor of the building collapsed just before 4 p.m. in a section where work was possibly underway.
Firefighters discovered the victims in the basement of the building.
“Unfortunately, we found a man under the debris and his death was noted by the Urgences-santé paramedics who were on site,” said Marie-Ève Beausoleil, a section chief at the Montreal Fire Department.
Beausoleil said the front of the building was uninhabited due to a fire a few years ago, but renovations may have been taking place as building materials were present.
Two other men were taken to hospital but an update on their health status was not immediately available on Sunday.
The occupants of 10 apartments and two businesses at the rear of the building were temporarily forced from their homes until a structural engineer deems it safe for them to return.
As there was a death, Montreal police and the province’s workers health and safety commission will investigate the circumstances surrounding the event and whether the three male victims were workers.
