One Dead In Building Collapse, One Injured

Sept. 28, 2010, Montreal - Investigators are trying to determine what caused a building to collapse on Monday, killing one of six men who were renovating the three-storey structure at the time.

Fire service spokesman Remi Perry says the victim, a 54-year-old man, was found on the second floor of the residential unit overlooking Montreal's sprawling Lafontaine park.

He told reporters that the first crew arrived four minutes after receiving a 911 call.

Most of the six workers had already managed to flee the building. But there was a delay before rescuers could reach the victim.

"We had to make sure the building was secure before we entered,'' Perry said.

He says the third floor caved into the second floor and that's where the victim was found.

The province's workplace health and safety board has been called in to investigate.

A spokesman for the city's ambulance service says one of the five surviving workers suffered minor injuries and was treated for shock.

Parts of the Sherbrooke Street building are still scarred by the charred remnants of a fire that ravaged the structure last year.

"There was a fire last year, but we don't know if there's a relation between the renovations and the fire,'' Perry said.

Last September's fire was described at the time as suspicious.

The building, which was empty when the fire broke out, had also been undergoing renovations.

According to the first firefighters on the scene in 2009, the blaze probably started in a container which was placed in front of the building.

No one was injured in the fire, but neighbours living in adjoining buildings had to be evacuated.