The Sûreté du Québec confirms that the victim of the fire at the Sainte-Agnès presbytery, which occurred during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, was roaming around the building at the time of the building's explosion and did not have the authorization of the owners to be on the premises.
He is a man in his forties.
The investigation continues to determine what exactly the individual was doing at this location that night.
According to our information, he was not a regular visitor. The former presbytery of Sainte-Agnès was normally uninhabited.
Police found his body in the rubble Thursday afternoon while working to determine the causes of the blaze.
The SQ took charge of the fire investigation due to the clues collected on site.
Explosion and widespread embrace
Firefighters from the Rimouski Fire Department were first called to the scene for an explosion on Wednesday around 4 a.m.
When they arrived on site, there was widespread fire in the building on all floors.
Firefighters managed to contain the fire before the flames spread to the Grand-Pavois-de-Sainte-Agnès school, located nearby.
Propane tanks are located near the former presbytery.
Rimouski firefighters had to call on their colleagues from the Rimouski-Neigette MRC due to the scale of the fire. Around fifty firefighters fought the fire.
In these circumstances, the Phares School Service Center has suspended classes and daycare at the Grand-Pavois-de-Sainte-Agnès school for the day.
They resumed on Friday for the last day before the holiday break.
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