Crews to begin taking down Old Montreal building destroyed by fire

Crews are going to start slowly taking down a building in Montreal's historic district this morning where at least seven people are missing after a fire on Thursday. Investigators initially said one person was believed to be missing in the fire that also injured another nine people.

Crews are going to start slowly taking down a building in Montreal's historic district this morning where at least seven people are missing after a fire on Thursday.

Investigators initially said one person was believed to be missing in the fire that also injured another nine people.

But fire operations chief Martin Guilbault says information received yesterday leads them to believe there may be victims inside the debris.

Guilbault says the building will be taken down stone-by-stone, to make sure that the environment inside is safe for firefighters and police to do their work.

More than a dozen emergency responders were still on the scene yesterday as the smell of smoke hung in the air.

The cause of the fire remains unknown, and the Montreal police arson squad is leading the investigation.

Officials say there was some confusion over how many people were inside the Old Montreal building at the time of the fire, because several apartments were Airbnb rentals.