A week after a fatal fire in an Old Montreal building killed two people, Montreal police (SPVM) say they arrested two suspects Friday in connection to the blaze.
Léonor Geraudie, 43, and her seven-year-old daughter Vérane Reynaud-Geraudie died in the blaze in the three-storey building on Notre-Dame Street E. The fire broke out on the first floor at around 2:30 a.m., and quickly spread.
Authorities have not provided any details about the suspects.
Security camera footage obtained by Radio-Canada shows a masked person breaking into the building minutes before the fire broke out.
A restaurant was located on the main floor and a hostel upstairs.
Two people were injured, including one who remains in hospital in critical condition.
On Tuesday, Quebec’s chief coroner ordered a public inquiry into the deaths.
Coroner Géhane Kamel will preside over the inquiry into the deaths of the French nationals. Kamel is also presiding over the inquiry into the deaths of seven people in a separate building fire in Old Montreal on March 16, 2023. Both buildings were owned by the same person, Émile-Haim Benamor.
Late Tuesday night, three people aged 17, 19 and 20 were arrested in connection to at least 19 shots being fired at Benamor’s office building near Saint-Antoine Street and Berri Street in the Ville-Marie borough, close to Viger Square.
The head of the Major Crimes Section, Commander Jean-Sébastien Caron and Inspector David Shane, Head of Communications will hold a 3 p.m. press conference Friday to provide more details.
Old Montreal fire Oct. 4, 2024. (Courtesy: Sean Mollitt)