BURNABY, B.C. - A coroner's inquest was told mistakes were made by the private security firm hired by Canada's border agency to guard a Mexican woman who hanged herself.
Lucia Vega Jimenez was found in a shower stall of a dungeon-like holding facility below the Vancouver airport on December 20th, 2013.
The 42-year-old woman died eight days later in a local hospital.
The inquest saw a video yesterday showing 40 minutes had passed between the time Jimenez disappeared behind a door and the time Genesis Security guard Jivan Sandhu entered the women's common room to check up on a detainees concerns.
The company's female security guard was absent, but Sandhu says he didn't think of asking any of the other women there to check on Jimenez.
He also spoke about other inadequacies, like thick blinds that shielded a control room where he was stationed, the absence of any suicide-prevention training and the fact he had left his own radio on his desk.
The coroners' jury can make recommendations to prevent similar deaths but may not find fault.
Jimenez was arrested after being stopped for transit fare evasion and border-services officer found she had already been deported from Canada over a failed refugee claim.
