Firefighters battle a fire in Old Montreal, on Oct. 4.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
Quebec’s chief coroner has ordered a public inquest into the fatal Old Montreal fire last week that claimed the lives of two French nationals.
Police identified the victims as 43-year-old Léonor Geraudie and seven-year-old Vérane Reynaud Geraudie, both of France.
They were killed after fire swept through a building in Old Montreal early Friday morning and their bodies were removed from the scene that evening.
Chief coroner Reno Bernier says in a news release the inquiry will be overseen by Géhane Kamel, the same coroner who was assigned to investigate the March 2023 fire in Old Montreal that killed seven people.
Bernier says Kamel can choose to combine both inquiries because they share similar facts, notably the two buildings that caught fire were owned by the same man — Emile Benamor — and that arson is suspected in both cases.
Over the weekend, Public Security Minister François Bonnardel said his office was in talks with the coroner to find ways of expediting inquests into both fatal fires.