1 worker confirmed dead after scaffolding collapses at Quebec pulp and paper plant
CBC
One of two workers trapped in a silo under collapsed scaffolding at the Domtar factory in Windsor, Que., since early Tuesday has been found dead, Radio-Canada has learned.
The victim is Yan Baillargeon, a 39-year-old father who lived in Quebec City but was originally from Saint-Anselme, a little under 30 kilometres southeast of the province's capital.
His family confirmed his death with Radio-Canada Wednesday afternoon.
The workers had been buried under the debris of a 20-storey scaffold structure that collapsed at around 1:30 a.m. ET Tuesday at the Domtar pulp and paper plant, about 120 kilometres east of Montreal.
Search operations continue for the second worker trapped under the debris, and his condition is still unknown, authorities said.
The fear that more equipment could collapse was slowing rescue efforts, authorities said Wednesday.
The rescue mission has been complicated by crews' need to secure parts of the scaffold that are still standing before they can continue their search inside the 60-metre-high silo, explained Stéphane Simoneau, the director of Sherbrooke's fire protection department.
His department has been assisting with rescue efforts, along with the Windsor firefighting service and the plant's specialized rescue brigade.
"Our concern is to not create another collapse on the victims who are already under the rubble," he said Wednesday, before Baillargeon's body was found.
"We have to be careful, you understand, for the rubble, as we take out one piece at a time."
Simoneau compared the situation to dealing with a house of cards. He said reaching the area and removing the debris is hard, because there are only three small entry points to the silo.
And before they could even start the search, responders had to control the level of oxygen and the temperature inside the silo to make sure the workers and the rescuers would stay safe, he said.
The two victims are part of a contractor's crew hired by Domtar to do major maintenance work on the plant.
The plant's general manager, Sylvain Bricault, would not reveal what company they were associated with during a news conference on Wednesday, saying the accident was still under investigation.
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