‘Always smiling’: family remembers Walid Belkahla, victim of the Old Montreal fire

Walid Belkahla is one of the seven victims of the Old Montreal building fire on March 16. The 18-year-old’s family is still in shock over losing their beloved son, and they are waiting on the results of the investigation into what caused the blaze. They say any findings might give them some closure.

“It has been so difficult since we knew on March 16, we were waiting with hope that he was not among the victims, although his friend confirmed to us, it’s him, we waited with hope until March 25,’ said Walid’s father, Rabah Belkahla, speaking in Arabic. “Then we knew and we couldn’t handle it, we couldn’t accept it, we had hope that there was a mistake or that he managed to escape.”

“Walid is a boy, very friendly, quiet, always smiling, and he takes care of his brothers and sister,” said his aunt Nadia. “His little sister, for her, Walid is a big brother, he always helps his mom, his dad, everybody.” She flew in from France to help her brother and his family through this difficult time.

Walid was spending the evening in Old Montreal with his friends the night of the fire, and one invited him to stay over at a rented room in the building where a blaze broke out around 5:45 a.m.

“Walid called his friend when the fire happened, telling him that he can’t open the door and the room has no windows,” explained his father. “We couldn’t reach his friend until this day, but we knew this information from another common friend of Walid’s who was also staying the building – but left the room at 2 a.m. for work.”

The 18-year-old’s father says he might consider filling a lawsuit against those responsible for the tragedy.

Last week, the father of Nathan Sears – another one of the fire victims – filed a class action suit for more than $22 million against the building’s owner, a contractor who rented units there, and Airbnb. The money would be shared among the people who were in the building, as well as the estates for the deceased and their families.

“This has to be made so that it no longer happens again, the owner building is a lawyer who is supposed to advocate for people, and know the laws, but he took advantage of those people who didn’t know what was happening, and he contributed to this disaster,” explained Belkahla.

“If he had followed the law and had building insurance or fire detector alarms, this wouldn’t have happened.”

The family describes Walid as a gentle young man who loved to help others, he volunteered in multiple associations to help those in need.

“He is in so much associations, for people, sport, and at the mosque, he is very very pretty and ‘doux,'” added Nadia.

The Belkahla family hopes that new measures are taken to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again.

“These matters shouldn’t be simplified, we also have a responsibility [to speak up], so that others think twice before doing such things,” said Belkahla in French.