3rd and 4th victims found after Old Montreal fire, 3 still missing

Two more victims were found in the rubble of the Old Montreal building engulfed by a devastating fire last week — bringing the total of dead recovered so far to four. Three people believed to have been inside when the fire broke out last Monday are still missing.

The victims have not yet been identified.

Wednesday afternoon, Montreal police Insp. David Shane confirmed the identity of the first victim whose body was found Sunday as 76-year-old Camille Maheux. A second body was found on Tuesday.

Maheux was a renowned photographer and filmmaker, who had lived in a loft on the second floor for about 30 years, according to Marik Boudreau, a friend and colleague.

Hours later, at around 10 p.m., police said two more victims had been recovered in the complex search operation that has been ongoing for a week.

It took days before police publicly confirmed anyone had died in the fire. News reports have revealed that several of the building's 15 units were being illegally rented on Airbnb, as well as other short-term rental platforms, and that some of them had no windows or emergency exits.

Insp. Shane said searchers are operating from a crane bucket as several parts of the building have collapsed or are at risk of collapsing. They are combing through debris using poles and cameras, looking through areas they believe the victims were based on information from investigators and building blueprints.

"There are all kinds of factors that are taken into account in planning each and every day," he told reporters.

Police said Thursday morning that they would begin streaming daily updates on the fire on the Actualités page of the French section of the SPVM website.

They said anyone with information about someone who may have been inside the building should contact the police.

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