A man, 24, has died a day after a house exploded in Mirabel.
Three people in their 20s were seriously injured in a house explosion in Mirabel Friday morning -- one man remains in ICU in critical condition, and a woman is relatively unscathed, police say.
However, they confirmed that one man passed away in hospital Friday night.
Police say they received a 911 call about explosions heard shortly after 4:15 a.m. at the home on Saint-Michel St. in the Saint-Janvier neighbourhood.
Neighbours say they heard three loud bangs and looked out the window to see two men running out of the home. Covered in flames, they threw themselves in the snow.
“I heard a couple of mini-explosions,” said Julio Tavares. “And then I heard big yelling from the guys. I came out, I checked my window and I saw a guy burning. He was rolling in the snow.”
A witness reported that one man's hair was on fire. A woman also ran out of the home as it became consumed in flames.
A neighbour who is a nurse took the three into her house to care for them. She said all three were in shock. The woman was yelling, “My life is over! My life is over!”
The two men who were badly burned were sent to Montreal’s burn centre for treatment. The woman, who was on the first floor of the home, was less severely injured, and was transported to St. Jerome Hospital. The men were both on the floor below her when the explosions occurred.
Police are investigating the cause of the explosion, though so far were unable to get into the house.
Neighbours say the tenants had only been renting the home since mid-December.
The home is destroyed and the two neighbouring houses were damaged.
One working theory the police said they are exploring is the possibility that the house was being used as a clandestine cannabis lab. However, the property was so heavily damaged in the explosion that police cannot enter the basement.
Also because of ice, it will likely take several days for the home to be thoroughly inspected.
