A retirement home caught fire in eastern Quebec, Canada, leaving at least 5 people dead and 31 others missing.
Photo: The Canadian Press
On January 24, the blaze in the 52-unit complex broke out overnight in L’Isle-Verte, about 225 kilometres north-east of Quebec City.
Firefighters, who battled the blaze for five hours in temperatures as low as -22 degrees Celsius, said they could see and hear people in the building who they were unable to save.
About 20 people were rescued, some of whom were taken to hospital. Police said not all the missing should be assumed to have died, since some could be staying elsewhere or travelling with their families.
Quebec police spokewoman Sergeant Ann Mathieu said authorities were trying to determine the exact number of victims and why the fire started.
Quebec Premier Pauline Marois said: “I want to offer my deepest condolences to all the families who have lost someone. My government will do everything it can to help people there.”
The building was home to more than 50 people and also housed a social agency, a pharmacy and a hair salon.
In 1969, a nursing home fire in the community of Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Quebec, claimed 54 lives./.
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