Police arrest 2 men, aged 18 and 20, in connection with fatal Old Montreal fire

Police say they have arrested two men, aged 18 and 20,in connection with a majorbuilding fire in Old Montreal that killed a mother and daughter last week.

A suspicious fire broke out ina three-storey, 100-year-old buildingon Notre-Dame Street last Friday, killing Lonar Geraudie, 43, and her seven-year-old daughter Vrane Reynaud-Geraudie, both from France.

The building housed a restaurant on the main floor and a hostel upstairs.

In an updateFriday afternoon, major crimes unit Cmdr. Jean-Sbastien Caron said the 20-year-old is suspected of usingan incendiary device to set the fire while the 18-year-old allegedly drove the getaway car.

Both suspects were arrested Friday, one in the Saint-Laurent borough and the other in theMercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuveborough.

Police said both suspects are known to police, but it is too early to say whether they are associated with a gang.

Caron said investigators will continue working to find the person who orchestrated the fire.

"We know there's somebody calling the shots so we want to get that person," he said.

Both suspects are detained andQuebec's Crown prosecutors' officewill decide what charges might be brought forward against them in the next 24 hours.

"We've treated this case as a murder case from the beginning, but obviouslythe decision will be made from the Crown prosecutor," said Montreal policeInsp. David Shane.

According to police,there were 25 people inside the building at the time of the fire. They said 23 made it out.

More than 200 officers have worked on the investigation, which isongoing, police say.

WATCH | 1st security video that showed masked person:

Security footage shows masked person breaking into Old Montreal building

9 days ago

Duration 0:53

Security footage obtained by Radio-Canada shows a hooded person wearing all-black clothing and a mask kicking in the restaurant's side door minutes before the fire broke out.

Since the deadly fire, Radio-Canada has obtained two videosfrom a security cameraoverlooking the front of the restaurant. The first one shows a masked person breaking into the building through its main floor,minutes before the fire broke out.

Two days later, another videoemerged showinga person leaving the building,with the fire burning on the main floor. The person then takes out aphone and seems to captureimages of the fire before leaving the scene.

Police havedeclined to comment on the videos, adding theywould not publicize details about the cause of the fire and search for possible suspects.

On Tuesday, Quebec's chief coronerordereda publicinquiryinto the deaths of the two victims of last week's fire.It's the second coroner's inquiry into a suspicious fire at an Old Montreal building in just over a year and a half.

In March 2023,a fire in a buildingon Place D'Youville killed seven people. Both buildings at the heart of the inquiriesare owned bymile-HaimBenamor.

Given their similarities, Coroner Ghane Kamel, who is presiding over both inquiries, could eventually decide to combine them.

On Tuesday, police arrested three people in connection with shots fired at another building owned byBenamor in Old Montreal.