Bitter cold hampers search after L'Isle-Verte fire
Crews are searching the rubble in 45-minute shifts to minimise exposure to the dangerously low temperatures The bitter cold is hindering the search for as many as 30 elderly and infirm Canadians unaccounted for after a fire destroyed a Quebec old people's home.
Crews are struggling in temperatures of -21C (-6F) in L'Isle-Verte, a day after five people were confirmed killed in the blaze.
The ruins of Residence du Havre have collapsed and are frozen over with a thick layer of ice from the fire hoses.
Many of the missing were dependent on wheelchairs and walking frames.
The deadly fire broke out about 00:30 local time (05:30 GMT) on Thursday.
Several fire departments were called to the town of 1,500 - 225km (140 miles) east of Quebec City - to help extinguish the fire, which was fanned by strong winds.
Emergency crews were able to save about 20 of the home's 52 residents, at least 13 of who were treated at hospital.
'Burned to death'The Quebec Provincial Police told reporters on Friday that 10-person crews were searching the debris in 45-minute shifts in order to minimise their exposure to the cold, using tools that produced steam to melt the ice coating the ruins.
The BBC's Beth McLeod: "Many are missing, feared dead"
Officials have not confirmed more than five deaths, saying they wanted to determine how many people were in the building at the time of the fire.
Investigators have begun searching for the cause of the blaze, and say they have not ruled anything out.
Police are asking for anyone with photos or videos of the fire to contact investigators.
Most of the residents were over 75 years old, and 37 were over 85 years old.
Many were infirm and suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and only five were fully mobile and autonomous, L'Isle-Verte's acting Mayor Ginette Caron told reporters on Thursday.
Retired police officer Pierre Filion, who had a cousin and an aunt living in the residence and who lives nearby, said the tragedy had shaken the tightly knit community.
Police are still trying to determine how many residents were home at the time and how many had visitors "It's going to take a long time to start living normally," said Mr Filion, whose missing relatives are both in their 70s.
Jean-Eudes Fraser told broadcaster CBC he rushed to the building, pulling himself up from the top of a ladder to help his mother, who was trapped on her balcony.
But as the fire quickly spread, he realised the ladder was too short for him and his mother to climb down.
"I had to decide if I was going to die with her or go back down myself," he told CBC. He said by the time he returned with a taller ladder, she was dead. "I had to make a decision. It was not easy."
The worst-ever fire in a Canadian nursing home occurred in Notre-Dame-du-Lac in Quebec, in 1969, when 54 people died.
At least one son of a resident attempted to save his mother 
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