6 dead, including 4 children, after Quebec house fire
Six people are dead, including four children, after a fire destroyed a residence in Sainte-Jacques, in Quebec’s Lanaudiere region, early Thursday morning.
Quebec provincial police spokesperson Eloise Cossette confirmed the deaths Thursday afternoon, saying it corresponded to information they had earlier in the day. The children are all under the age of eight, she said.
Authorities received a call at around 1 a.m. to report a massive blaze at the home, located on Rang du Cordon, near Moncharme St.
Firefighters handed the scene to police at around 4 a.m., and by the time officers arrived, “the residence was completely destroyed,” according to Cossette.
The bodies were discovered inside the house. Cossette said the victims were asleep at the time.
Their identities have not yet been confirmed, and formal identification will take place in a laboratory.
Major crimes investigators were dispatched to the scene with hopes of uncovering the cause of the fire, as officers picked through the ruins and spoke to neighbours.
"The first thing we noticed was the bang, the bang we heard," said neighbour Melanie Jalbert, who said she and her spouse saw the house go up in flames within minutes.
Jalbert said the woman living in the home had given birth in December.
So far the cause of the fire is unclear, said Cossette, and that a banging sound might have been made by a collapsing wall, a feul tank, or possibly an exploding tire.
"It's still unexplained," she said. "We haven't found anything suspicious regarding the cause of the fire at this point."
Cossette says the investigators in charge of sifting through the remains of the house were also on the site of the Saint-Roch-de-L'Achigan explosion earlier this month.
St-Jacques Mayor Josianne forest said news of the fatal fire was difficult to hear for the town of 400 people.
"It's a small community here, it's really hard for us," she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.