Mass held to honour victims in Quebec town where pedestrians were struck by truck
Hundreds of people gathered Friday evening for a special mass in Amqui, Que., a town where two people were killed and nine injured when a pickup truck crashed into pedestrians.
Inside the Saint-Benoît-Joseph-Labre church, people greeted and hugged each other before the memorial mass presided over by Archbishop Denis Grondin began in memory of the victims and to support the tight-knit community that was left reeling by the tragedy.
Gérald Charest and Jean Lafrenière died after being struck on Monday afternoon.
"I want to welcome the family members directly or indirectly affected by the attack," Grondin said at the start of the mass. He then thanked the politicians present for their support, including federal Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez.
Amqui Mayor Sylvie Blanchette went to the pulpit and spoke about the victims.
"Amqui residents are dynamic and cheerful people that are always ready to help others. These qualities perfectly represent Gérald and Jean, who left us on Monday," Blanchette said.
The mayor thanked the first responders and everyone who helped the injured after the crash.
"We are all here to give hope to those who need it. Amqui, you are beautiful. You are dynamic. You are shaped by great people, and we will continue to thrive, laugh and live despite this sad event," Blanchette said.
"Let us be strong, and let us be proud. We will never forget March 13, 2023, but we will always be one big family,"
After the mass, people were invited to meet at Pierre-et-Maurice-Gagné park in Amqui, where a commemorative event was held.
Police have said those injured in the crash range in age from less than a year old to 77. On Thursday, a Quebec City hospital said two injured adults remained in critical condition.
A candlelight vigil was held in front of the church Thursday evening in the community about 350 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.
Steeve Gagnon, 38, is charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing death and prosecutors have said more charges will follow.
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
- With files from Sidhartha Banerjee.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 17, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING BMO clients face outages in Canada, U.S. following data centre fire alarm
Bank of Montreal clients on both sides of the border Thursday morning have reported outages with banking services. BMO said its technical team is investigating.
Drive one of these vehicles? You may pay 37 per cent more than average insurance costs due to thefts
As the number of auto theft incidents rises in Canada, so have insurance premiums for drivers, even the ones whose vehicles aren't stolen.
B.C. mortgage broker ran $270-million Ponzi scheme, then fled Canada, bankruptcy trustee says
The trustee appointed to manage the bankruptcies of a Victoria mortgage company and its owner has concluded that they committed "numerous offences" and operated as a "massive Ponzi scheme."
'I'm not wealthy': Ontario senior shocked she owes $40,000 in capital gains after gifting land
An Ontario senior who wanted to help her daughter and grandson eventually own homes one day decided to give them two lots on her property as a gift—but she didn’t know it would eventually cost her tens of thousands of dollars.
Want to turn off Meta AI? You can't - but there are some workarounds
If you use Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram, you've probably noticed a new character pop up answering search queries or eagerly offering tidbits of information in your feeds, with varying degrees of accuracy.
opinion Trump's Republicans falling far behind in fundraising, infrastructure
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, Washington political analyst Eric Ham explains how and why Republicans -- up and down the ballot -- are falling far behind Democrats in both fundraising and infrastructure.
Canadians are eyeing moves to these cities for more affordable housing
Faced with elevated housing prices, half of Canadians in the country's largest cities are considering moving to places with more affordable housing.
Canadians' interest in buying EVs fades as barriers, concerns remain: J.D. Power
A new study finds fewer Canadians say they're interested in buying an electric vehicle as concerns remain about limited driving ranges, high prices and a lack of charging stations.
McDonald's says US$18 Big Mac meal was an 'exception' and their prices haven't risen that much
McDonald’s is fighting back against viral tweets and media reports that it says have exaggerated its price increases.