Manslaughter charges have been laid against the owner of an Old Montreal building that burned down three years ago, killing seven people who were inside it and injuring nine others.

Montreal police said in a news conference Wednesday that following investigations into the fire, Emile Haim Benamor was arrested.

Benamor is set to appear in court on Wednesday afternoon, according to court documents obtained by Global News.

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The involuntary manslaughter charges are in connection to the deaths of 18-year-old Charlie Lacroix, 18-year-old Walid Belkahla, 31-year-old An Wu, 31-year-old Saniya Khan, 31-year-old Dania Zafar, 35-year-old Nathan Sears and 76-year-old Camille Maheux.

A fire ripped through the heritage building on March 16, 2023, killing seven people — six of whom were staying in illegal short-term rentals.

Police have said that traces of an accelerant were found at the scene and could explain how the fire spread so quickly.

The court documents show Benamor also faces charges of criminal negligence causing bodily harm in connection to eight people.

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A historic church in Montreal has been lost after a major fire erupted at the building.

The century-old Saint-Paul Catholic Church in the Sud-Ouest borough burned to the ground early Monday morning, with plumes of smoke still billowing from the rubble.

A five-alarm fire was reported just after 1:30 a.m., with flames lighting up the sky.

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According to Montreal fire crews, no one was injured during the incident but due to difficulty containing the blaze, a neighbouring retirement home was evacuated as flames also spread to the building.

The Canadian Red Cross says about 150 residents from the area were taken into care. Among those evacuated were 73 people from the retirement home, which had been converted from the church’s former rectory.

The church has been vacant for years, but was still considered a staple of the community since it was built in 1910. It is part of a heritage site comprised of a few buildings in the area.

The extent of the damage to the church is being assessed by fire officials. An investigation is also underway into the cause of the fire and where it started.

— With a file from Global News’ Brayden Jagger Haines and The Canadian Press

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.