Provincial police identify father, two kids as victims of Quebec house explosion

Photo: The Canadian Press

Quebec provincial police have identified a father and his two young children as the victims of a house explosion on Monday in Saguenay, Que.

Police said earlier this week at least two people were dead in the explosion in the basement apartment of a home in Saguenay's Arvida district, but hadn't ruled out the presence of another victim.

The next day, police identified the victims as a 39-year-old man and his two sons.

A child under the age of three was found at the same time as the father, and the body of a baby under the age of one was discovered late Tuesday in the home, about 250 kilometres north of Quebec City.

Police spokesman Sgt. Hugues Beaulieu says investigators are looking at several hypotheses for the explosion, such as an accident or a double murder followed by a suicide.

Beaulieu says police have ruled out a malfunctioning appliance as the cause, because the magnitude of the blast was too powerful.

The father worked in the mining industry and police are speaking to his employer. The Niobec mine confirmed in a statement that one of its employees died in the blast and said it is co-operating with authorities.

The coroner's office is also investigating the deaths.