A food processing company in Sherbrooke exploded because of a propane tank on March 23, at 8h23 am. Five people were sent to the hospital.

Early in the morning, a big explosion happened in an establishment. According to the employees, there was a smell of gas in the corridors and 10-15 minutes later it exploded. A towering column of smoke was visible for miles around, so they closed to traffic on Bourque boulevard.

About 10 employees were inside the building when the first blast took place.“Injured people were evacuated and taken to hospital. Our teams are hard at work fighting the fire,” said Sherbrooke Mayor Evelyne Beaudin on Twitter.

Two of the people were sent to the hospital for second burns and nervous shock. And two others for third-degree burns. One of the people injured in the explosion at the Olivier Jean center, known for his business Le Gars du Lac, is in an artificial coma at the Montreal CHUM.

‘’Although there are fire hydrants on site, they were not enough to fight the blaze’’, said the fire chief. A second explosion occurred a few minutes after the first as the sappers began to intervene.