Search continues for bodies at site of retirement home fire

L’ISLE-VERTE, Quebec — Crews on Saturday recovered just two more bodies on the third day of an excruciating search through the charred remains of a Quebec retirement home, now covered in ice as thick as two feet. A total of 32 people are believed to have been killed in the massive fire, but just 10 bodies have been found.

The cause of Thursday’s blaze in the small town of L’Isle-Verte remains under investigation. There were media reports that the fire began in the room of a resident who was smoking a cigarette, but police said that was just one possibility among many.

“It could be a cigarette, it could be a small heater, it could be an electrical problem,” Police Lt. Michel Brunet said at a news conference. “We have to be sure at 100 percent.”

“We’re going to take the time we need,” he added.

Frigid temperatures continued to hamper the search. Quebec Police Lt. Guy Lapointe said the ice in certain places was as thick as two feet. Search teams brought in equipment normally used to de-ice ships that pushes out very hot air.

“You can imagine how difficult it is to go through the ice, melt it, and do it in a way that we preserve the integrity of potential victims,” Lapointe said. “So it’s very difficult work again today. It’s very cold.”

Officials said they would end the day’s search at 7 p.m. Saturday due to the difficult conditions and resume Sunday morning. Quebec Provincial Police lowered the number of missing from about 30 to 22 based on more detailed information.

“I think we can all agree here today that the … people who are still missing, I think we can assume the worst,” Lapointe said.

The coroner’s office identified two victims on Saturday, Juliette Saindon, 95, and Marie-Laureat Dube, 82. A third person has been identified but his or her name will not be released until Sunday.

Teams of police, firefighters and coroners methodically picked their way through the ruins of Residence du Havre, working in shifts in the extreme cold.

Spray from firefighters’ hoses had left the home resembling a macabre snow palace.