Quebec: Explosion at propane company, at least three missing

At least three people are said to be missing as a consequence of an explosion that occurred at a propane facility 50 km north of Montreal.

The explosion is said to have occurred at around 11:17 am on Thursday in St-Roch-de-l’Achigan in the Lanaudiere region in Quebec.

No deaths have reportedly been confirmed due to the explosion.

“It is the uncertainty…It’s the fact that three persons, three citizens, are missing today. Three of our citizens. We’re looking for them and we’re waiting for answers,” said Sébastien Marcil, the mayor of Saint-Roch-de-L’Achigan, Quebec.

The Quebec Provincial Police authorities were unable to access the site of the blast for most of the day due to the fire not being under control until Thursday evening, according to Quebec Provincial Police (SQ) spokesperson Eloise Cossette. The rubble due to the incident will likely take days to go through, Cossette added.

Around 50 firefighters from St-Roch-de-l’Achigan, Repentigny, Rawdon, Ste-Julienne, and St-Lin-Laurentides were reportedly present at the scene to put out the flames. People in a one-kilometre radius of the explosion were reportedly evacuated, however, 50 of the residents were able to return back to their residences by 6:30 pm.

Speaking to media outlets, Propane Lafortune, the family-owned business where the incident occurred, expressed,” We are deeply upset by this event and we are monitoring the situation closely…This is the first time in 60 years that our company has experienced such an ordeal. Our hearts go out to our employees, their families and anyone who may be affected by this difficult situation.”

Taking to Twitter, Quebec Premier Francois Legault expressed his condolences stating, “My thoughts are with the people of St-Roch-de-l’Achigan and the employees of Propane Lafortune.”

“Please be vigilant and respect the evacuation measures. I would like to thank all the emergency services teams who are on site,” he added.