Quebec coroner Géhane Kamel will preside over a public enquiry into the deaths of Léonor Geraudie, 43, and her seven-year-old daughter Vérane, who were killed in a fire in a heritage building in Old Montreal on Oct. 4 that also left two people injured.
Quebec chief coroner Reno Bernier made the announcement on Tuesday. He ordered the enquiry at the request of Public Security Minister François Bonnardel.
Kamel had already been appointed to preside over the inquest into the fire that claimed seven lives in another heritage building on Place d’Youville on March 16 2023, and the chief coroner indicated that, since the new inquest “will deal with similar facts,” the two cases could eventually be combined, “depending on the progress of the cases.” Although announced for April 2023, the inquest into the March 2023 fire was suspended pending completion of the SPVM’s criminal investigation.
The chief coroner said in his news release that Kamel’s investigations will be conducted “with due care not to prejudice the judicial process underway in these two cases.”
Kamel will be assisted by prosecutor Pierre-Olivier Bilodeau at the inquest, the aim of which will be to make recommendations to prevent further deaths in similar circumstances.
The two heritage buildings ravaged by these fatal fires both belonged to the same owner, Emile Benamor.
The first, on Place d’Youville, was used for short-term tourist rentals on the Airbnb platform, while the second was used as a youth hostel.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 8, 2024.