Quebec police identify three victims of propane blast

Exactly one week after the deadly explosion and fire at a propane distributor in St-Roch-de-l’Achigan, 50 kilometres north east of Montreal, the Sûreté du Québec has formally released the identities of the victims.

The three victims, two employees of Propane Lafortune and one subcontractor, are:

• Céline Pilon, a 65-year-old from St-Roch-de-l’Achigan
• France Desrosiers, a 65-year-old from l’Épiphanie
• Christophe Paradis, a 26-year-old from Mascouche

Authorities found the remains of the three people on Monday at the site of Propane Lafortune.

An explosion and fire engulfed the building on the morning of Jan. 12.

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Police say an investigation by the major crimes squad remains ongoing, as they try and determine what may have caused the blast.

The mayor of Saint-Roch-de-l’Achigan, Sebastien Marcil said in a statement that the explosion had left residents with three questions: who, why and how?

“The confirmation of the identity of the three missing people today is the answer to one of them and allows us to begin mourning, a step that is as normal as it is essential, seven days after these events,” he said.

He also thanked the investigation teams that have been deployed.

“We hope that all energies can now be devoted to finding answers to the questions that remain and, above all, to the circumstances that led to such an explosion in order to avoid it happening again in the future,” he said.

Viateur Lamarche, who worked at the company for 18 years before retiring in 2020, said he worked with Pilon for around 10 years, describing her as someone who helped her colleagues with their work. He said Desrosiers had been working at the company for at least five years.

Provincial police Sgt. Eloise Cossette said in an emailed statement that police will continue to assess the scene for several more days and that an investigation by the major crimes squad continues.

Isabelle Lafortune, one of the company’s co-owners, declined to comment Thursday.

With files from The Canadian Press