Trois-Rivières police were unable to confirm anything Thursday afternoon, but agreed that they received the requests from paramedics at 2:52 p.m., about half an hour after the alarm was sounded leading to the evacuation of the building.
“The paramedics did the job, we assisted them, this person was transported, but we had no follow-up to the event,” said Sergeant Luc Mongrain, spokesperson for the Trois-Rivières police.
It appears that the victim’s heart problems were known, according to our sources.
Still at the Trois-Rivières police, it is explained that the death is not part of the ongoing investigation. “Yes, there was a [premier] deaths in the fire, we are in the coroner’s investigation. So we will try to find some answers to provide to the coroner,” says Luc Mongrain.
Let us recall that the body of a resident was found lifeless in her apartment at the time of the fire.
We were still waiting for a response from the Municipal Housing Office, responsible for the building, at the time of writing.
At the CIUSSS de la Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Québec, they say they cannot “confirm the death of a user as it is part of the medical file and it is confidential information.”
From emergency accommodation to temporary accommodation
While inspection work continues and the building at 521 Notre-Dame Est remains under an evacuation order, authorities are announcing the gradual closure of the emergency shelter, set up since Tuesday at the Bâtisse industrielle.
According to data transmitted to the media, 44 people found refuge in the facilities erected urgently by the teams of the City of Trois-Rivières.
Around thirty victims were still there at the last count, it was stated. “They will be taken care of by the team from the Trois-Rivières Municipal Housing Office (OMH) in order to be temporarily housed at the hotel,” stated a press release published by the City on Thursday afternoon.
More than 100 victims are said to have received support from the Red Cross at one point or another during the intervention. (Stéphane Lessard/Archives, Le Nouvelliste)
Without giving the details, a gradual reintegration of a certain number of disaster victims has also been announced. “These victims will be taken care of by the team of the Trois-Rivières Municipal Housing Office (OMH) in order to be temporarily housed in a hotel,” the City’s press release states.
It should be recalled that a preliminary inspection of the building led to the general evacuation directive, decreed on Tuesday at dusk, while it was feared that the water used to extinguish the flames could become a source of electrical problems.
It also appears that residents of the upper floors will have to be patient, as some apartments have been completely destroyed. “All cases are analyzed individually according to the needs of the victims,” is all that is being said for the moment.
It is also noted that 101 people were taken care of by the Red Cross at one time or another during the intervention. Several were a pitiful sight on Tuesday evening, while information was trickling out and food and medicines were in short supply.
Without the initiative of the OMH people, present in the first minutes of the intervention, distributing bottles of water, apples and words of encouragement, distress could have taken over the victims, one can assume.
