1 worker confirmed dead after scaffolding collapses at Quebec pulp and paper plant

One of the two workers trapped in a silo under collapsed scaffolding at the Domtar factory in Windsor, Que., has been found dead, Radio-Canada has learned.

The victim is Yan Baillargeon, a 39-year-old father who lived in Quebec City but was originally from Saint-Anselme, about 50 kilometres southeast of the province's capitol.

Family confirmed his death with Radio-Canada Wednesday afternoon. The workers had been buried under the debris of a collapsed scaffold structure since early Tuesday.

Search operations continue to find the second worker trapped under the debris, and his state of health is still unknown, authorities say.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Below is an earlier version:

The fear that more equipment could collapse is slowing down the effort to find and rescue two workers who were buried under debris when a 20-storey scaffold caved in early Tuesday morning at the Domtar pulp and paper plant in Windsor, Que., about 150 kilometres east of Montreal.

The workers have been trapped for more than 36 hours, and there has been no information on their condition. Rescuers still don't know how much longer it will take to find them.

The rescue mission is complicated by the fact that crews have to secure parts of the scaffold that are still standing before they can continue their search inside the 60-metre-high silo, explained Stéphane Simoneau, the director of Sherbrooke's fire protection department.

His department was called to help Tuesday morning, along with the Windsor fire brigade and the plant's specialized rescue brigade.

"Our concern is to not create another collapse on the victims who are already under the rubble," he said. "We have to be careful, you understand, for the rubble, as we take out one piece at a time."

Simoneau compared the situation to dealing with a house of cards. He said reaching the area and removing the debris is hard, because there are only three small entry points to the silo.

And before they could even start the search, responders had to control the level of oxygen and the temperature inside the silo to make sure the workers and the rescuers would stay safe, he said.

That step is now complete, but the hardest part remains: finding the missing workers. 

"What we still don't have control of yet — and that we're trying to do — is to be able to go down as fast as possible to rescue these workers," Simoneau said.