One person is dead and two others were sent to hospital after a structural collapse at a construction site in Blainville, Que., on Montreal’s North Shore, authorities say.
The incident happened Tuesday morning on Michèle-Bohec Boulevard where a commercial building was under construction.
The body of the worker who was killed was retrieved from the rubble shortly after 8 p.m., according to Blainville police spokesperson Sara Tousignant.
Police did not release information about the worker’s identity.
The director of the Blainville fire department, Claude Deschuymer, explained that the ground, mainly clay and sand, was extremely unstable where the victim lay after the rain of the last few days.
A 911 call was made at around 11 a.m. reporting a partial collapse of a retaining wall of a construction pit. When first responders arrived, they found one man in the pit who was sent to hospital with a leg injury.
A trailer with one woman inside also fell into the pit, but she was rescued without any injuries and sent to hospital for observation.
A third worker was injured but did not go to hospital.
Photos from the scene of the incident show twisted metal bars and wood strewn inside the pit. Three cars also fell inside the pit.
According to the CSN union, which represents some construction workers in Quebec, wondered Tuesday whether, with all the heavy rain the region received over the weekend, all of the proper checks were done at the construction site.
“The nature of the soil there can have a huge impact on the strength that’s deployed and pressed on the retaining wall when the soil gets drenched with water,” said Pierre-Olivier Parent, a CSN workplace safety representative.
‘My sympathies go out to their family’
Quebec’s labour minister, Jean Boulet, offered his condolences to the family of the worker who died, writing on his X account that he was saddened to learn about the tragedy.
“My sympathies go out to their family and colleagues, and my thoughts are also with the injured workers,” he wrote.
C’est avec tristesse que j’apprends le décès d’un travailleur dans l’effondrement d’une structure à Blainville. J’offre mes sympathies aux proches et aux collègues et j’ai aussi une pensée pour les travailleurs blessés.
— Jean Boulet (@JeanBoulet10) May 20, 2025
La @CNESST et la @LaRBQ enquêteront pour aller au fond des…
Quebec’s workplace safety board, the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité au travail (CNESST), is investigating the incident.
In a statement to CTV News, the safety board said two investigators have been deployed to the scene “in order to secure the site and gather information about the circumstances of this event.”
The agency that enforces the construction code in Quebec, the RBQ, is also investigating, according to Boulet.
Michèle-Bohec Boulevard is closed between Notre-Dame and Émilien-Marcoux streets until further notice.
“We invite motorists to avoid the area and take alternative routes,” the city said on Facebook.
With files from CTV News Montreal’s Kelly Greig and Max Harrold, and The Canadian Press
