Three bodies found in wreckage of apartment building after Montreal-area fire

MONTREAL – Fire raced through a Montreal-area apartment building on Friday, killing three people and forcing authorities to use ladders to rescue tenants stranded on balconies.

Longueuil police spokesman Tommy Lacroix could not confirm whether the deceased were related or lived in the same apartment.

Authorities were continuing their search with the help of mechanical shovels even though the three bodies accounted for everyone who was reported missing.

“We hope we won’t (find other people), but we still need to confirm with the search of the wreckage,” Lacroix said.

A large part of the 24-unit complex had collapsed during the early-morning blaze, which left about 40 people homeless.

Jean-Guy Ranger, division chief with the Longueuil fire department, said the blaze had already spread quite extensively by the time firefighters and police arrived at the site at around 2 a.m.

“About 20 people were on the balconies because they couldn’t exit through the indoor corridors, so we had to use portable ladders to reach them,” said Ranger, adding all those trapped on balconies were rescued.

“A little later part of the building collapsed on the gas input, which in turn caught fire.”

That, he said, made extinguishing the blaze more difficult.

Eight people, including three children, were taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and shock.

About 75 firefighters fought the blaze, which was fully put out about 12 hours after it began.

There was no immediate word on what caused the blaze.