Body of man found in debris field of Mississauga, Ont., house explosion identified: police

TORONTO—Police say the body of a man who was found Thursday in the debris field of a house explosion west of Toronto is that of 55-year-old Robert Nadler.

Police identified the man on Friday. The Mississauga, Ont., man’s body was the second body found since Tuesday’s blast.

Peel Regional Police said Thursday night the body of a woman found the day of the explosion that damaged other houses in Mississauga has been identified as that of Dianne Page, 55, of Mississauga.

Earlier Thursday, Sgt. Josh Colley said the home was associated with Page and Robert Nadler, but police had not been able to contact either of them.

Nine other people suffered minor injuries in the explosion that rained debris over a wide area and forced the evacuation of 69 homes—an evacuation that police said would end for some residents on Thursday night.

Police also said Thursday the explosion is considered a criminal investigation.

Media reports have said there were handwritten notes found near the scene of the blast, and police said they’re working to find out whether the papers are related to the explosion.

“Because the blast site was so large and there were multiple homes that were damaged, it’s an extensive process to try to match up handwriting analysis,” Colley said. “So they’re working on trying to associate those documents with an address.”

Jeff Minten from the Ontario Fire Marshal said investigators were set to begin searching the debris on the blast site to determine the cause of the explosion. A canine search-and-rescue team has already been through the scene.

“We’re going to be excavating that very slowly. We’re going to be looking for fragile debris that might have been associated with the blast,” he said.

A police spokesman said some homes evacuated following the blast have been deemed safe and residents were to contact police to find out if their address was on the list of safe homes.

Residents would then have to fill out paperwork to get gas and electricity restored and they would be given a waiver to present to officers at the site, he said.

Once at the site, residents would then be told if they could drive to their house or if they’d have to get there on foot.

“We would like to thank the affected members of our community for their patience in this matter and we ask for further patience from community members who will not be able to access their homes this evening,” police said in a release.