Blainville retaining wall collapse: Construction worker’s death in May 2025 was accidental, coroner finds
Posted September 9, 2026 12:02 pm.
A Quebec coroner has released his report into the death of 31-year-old Alexandre Paris, who was killed when a retaining wall on a Blainville construction site collapsed on May 20, 2025.
Coroner Steeve Poisson concluded Paris died from the combined effects of suffocation and mechanical asphyxia caused by chest compression after he was buried when the retaining wall collapsed. He ruled the death as accidental.
A criminal investigation had also been launched by Blainville police, which led to no charges.
Paris, who was working for a subcontracting company, was working on a two-storey underground parking garage dug some 10 metres into the ground when he was buried around 11 a.m. that morning. His body was recovered by firefighters shortly after 8 p.m.
The coroner says the recovery operation was complicated because the area remained unstable and a rescue procedure needed to be devised by an engineer.
Two other construction workers were partly buried in the collapse and were rescued. Vehicles, a trailer and tools were also buried.
The CNESST also conducted an investigation, which determined the following causes:
- An underestimation of the earth pressures behind the retaining wall, combined with an overestimation of the structural capacity of the soldier piles during design, created instability that led to the collapse of a section of the wall.
- The assessment of the risk of collapse of the retaining wall was inadequate in that workers were allowed to perform their tasks near and at the bottom of the excavation, even though signs of instability were present.
The coroner says on the day of the accident, the CNESST ordered the work be stopped until the contractor obtained a certificate from an engineer confirming that the sections still in place were safe, and that an engineer develop safe work procedures for securing the sections still in place, for debris removal, and for the reconstruction as well as the continuation of work.
In his report, coroner Poisson said since safety measures have already been issued, he does not consider it necessary to make any recommendations.
