In Saint-Léandre in Bas-Saint-Laurent, four people died in a serious construction accident on Saturday afternoon.
Shortly before 4 p.m., four people, two women and two men, stood on a scissor lift before falling several meters, Sûreté du Québec (SQ) spokesman Stéphane Tremblay said.
According to preliminary findings, the platform overturned while the victims were still there.
The tragedy occurred in the grounds of a house under construction, on rue Principale, in Saint-Léandre.
Hear details of the investigation with an interview with Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Stéphane Tremblay:
Fatal injuries
Officials initially said the first person died at the scene. Three other people were taken to a hospital center where they were pronounced dead later in the evening or night.
The dead are a 24-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man from Saint-Léandre, the owner of the house. They were accompanied by the man’s parents, a 53-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man from Rivière-du-Loup.
Very young
Neighbor Jeanne-Paul Saucier responded to the deaths of the two owners of the nearly finished house on the airwaves of TVA Nouvelles at noon Sunday.
“I was very emotional because I was so young. The house was built so quickly and so well [propriétaires] There wouldn’t have been time to live, it was terrible for me,” she laments.
Domestic accident
The Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) has been notified, but no investigation has taken place on their part because it was not a work accident. Work, according to SQ.
However, an inquiry has been initiated by the SQ to understand the circumstances of the accident. According to the speaker, an imbalance or excess weight on stage can cause tragic events.
A mechanical inspection will be conducted on the forklift to determine if a malfunction caused the accident.
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