A 32-year-old man was killed and two others were injured in an explosion that followed a fire Saturday morning at a building on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, which offers cheap single rooms.
Firefighters responded after 7 a.m. at the Empress Hotel, located on Hastings Street between Main Street and Gore Avenue, and quickly extinguished the blaze.
However, one person died falling from a second -floor window, said Vancouver Fire Department Deputy Chief Walter Pereira. Unfortunately, there was one death, which was considered an accident at this time.
The victim was a 32 -year -old man, the Vancouver Police Department said, adding that at least two people were injured.
The explosion could have been caused by an overcharged lithium battery in an electric bicycle, according to the fire department.
The incident came just two months after a fire engulfed another nearby single-room building, the Winters Hotel, killing two residents.
According to the BC Office of the Fire Marshal, the number of fire deaths in the province more than doubled between 2019 and 2021, from 27 to 59.
Information from Chloé Dioré de Périgny
Radio Canada
Source: Radio-Canada
