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Old Montreal fire: Mother and seven-year-old daughter from France identified as victims

by Lorraine Carpenter

The property that burned down in the early hours of Friday morning is owned by the former proprietor of the building where seven people died in Airbnb rental units in March 2023.

UPDATE 4:16 p.m. In a press conference this afternoon, it was confirmed that two people perished in the fire that engulfed a building in the early hours of Friday morning, at the corner of Notre-Dame and Bonsecours in Old Montreal. The victims are French nationals Léonor Géraudie and her seven-year-old daughter Vérane Reynaud-Géraudie.

In her latest statement about the fire this afternoon, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante expressed her sympathies and assured the public that the SPVM investigation will clarify what transpired.

“What we feared the most has unfortunately happened. It is incredibly sad. My thoughts go out to the victims’ loved ones, who have the right to the whole truth about this heinous crime. The police department opened a major crime investigation yesterday and all leads will be considered. I am confident that the determination of the investigators will shed full light on this tragedy.”

Old Montreal fire: Mother and seven-year-old daughter from France identified as victims

A security video obtained by Radio-Canada shows someone breaking into the building moments before the fire began. Officials would not comment on the video today.

Among the people in the building who were able to escape the fire, Montreal police said yesterday, most were unharmed and two were injured. One of those two people was sent to hospital. The SPVM set up a help line yesterday for victims and their family members.

Old Montreal fire: Bodies of mother & seven-year-old daughter from France identified as victims

The fire department confirmed yesterday that the owner of the property that burned down, at 400/402 Notre-Dame E., is Emile Benamor, who was also the proprietor of the Place d’Youville building that went up in flames in March 2023, killing seven. That building was illegally being used to rent Airbnb units, at least one of which had no windows.

The site of Friday’s fire had a restaurant on the ground floor (a wine bar called Loum, which is reportedly where the fire started), and a 19-room hostel on the second floor called Le 402. CTV reported that the short-term rental rooms could be reserved through a “vacation rental site,” but Airbnb has confirmed that there were no Airbnb listings in the building. CBC reports that one hostel guest who escaped the blaze described his room as a “shoebox” with no windows. Online reviews of the hostel include complaints about windowless rooms and windows that don’t open.

The fire department noted that inspections were conducted at the site of Friday’s fire following the March 2023 fire at Benamor’s Place d’Youville building. While he was found to be non-compliant due to an inadequate alarm system, the problems had, according to the fire department, been rectified by the time of a follow-up inspection in the spring of 2024.

This article was originally published at 10:55 a.m. on Oct. 4 and updated most recently at 4:16 p.m. on Oct. 5, 2024.

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by Lorraine Carpenter

Editor in chief
Lorraine Carpenter was born in Montreal and studied communications and journalism at Concordia. She co-founded Cult MTL in 2012 following 12 years at the now-defunct Montreal alt weekly the Mirror, where she worked in editorial as copy editor and music editor. She’s dedicated to supporting the cultural scene in Montreal.