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Witnesses testify at coroner’s inquest
Nov. 27, 2014, Riviere-du-Loup, Que. - Witnesses to the seniors' home fire that killed 32 people in Quebec last January have described a night of horror.
November 27, 2014
By The Canadian Press
They told a coroner’s inquest into the tragedy yesterday of residents begging to be saved as flames engulfed them.
Conrad Morin was living on the top floor of the Residence du Havre in L’Isle-Verte when the blaze began just after midnight last January 23rd.
The 89-year-old said his first instinct was to save his wife, Eva, who lived on a lower floor because she had limited movement.
But as he rushed into the corridor, he was forced back because of thick smoke, while his wife would die in the tragedy.
The former firefighter was able to get out through a door two floors above the ground after ripping off plastic weatherstripping.
He fell to the ice below and suffered seven fractures.
The inquest also saw a video of the fire that was filmed by Nathalie Paquin Tanguay, who was travelling in the area with her family at the time.
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