Laval, Que., church holds special service for children killed in daycare bus crash
4½-year-old Jacob Gauthier identified as one of Wednesday's victims
A mountain of stuffed animals and bouquets of flowers lined the altar of a Laval, Que., church where a special service was held Friday morning to honour the two children killed Wednesday when a city bus rammed into their daycare.
The mood was sombre as members of the grief-stricken Sainte-Rose community piled into the Sainte-Rose-de-Lima catholic church.
Mia Merolla stopped to add flowers to the makeshift memorial that's been growing outside the church in the days following the crash.
"I feel extreme sadness for the parents," said Merolla. "It's something everyone takes for granted. You send your kids to school, you send your kids to daycare, you're going to pick them up at the end of the workday."
On Friday afternoon, the identity of one of the victims of the crash was revealed. He is four-and-a-half-year-old Jacob Gauthier.
His funeral will take place at the Sainte-Rose-de-Lima church next Thursday at 11 a.m. The identity of the second victim is unknown at this time.
WATCH | Young victim's family share their pain:
Inside the church, candles were lit for those killed and injured in the crash. Mourners filled the pews, leaving some people standing at the back.
Father Michel Bouchard, who led the mass, paid tribute to the families affected by the tragedy, saying it has "tested us deeply."
"It is an enormous suffering, an anguish," he said, adding what happened "must not extinguish our hope."
Bouchard told CBC News that he will also be the one performing the funeral rites for Jacob next week — something he said will be difficult.
"Because it's me who baptized that little boy … and three years after, he's dead. The only thing I can do is offer him to God," he said.
Bouchard said there is no way to explain what happened, but what he can do is help bring the community together.
"The only thing I can do as a believer and a priest is to pray, to tell the people that we are together and together we can do something," he said.
Elias Karam, a father in attendance at the mass, said he came out with his wife to pray for the families.
"We felt for them … the trauma is big and we're feeling so sad," he said.
Quebecers have been gathering near the Garderie Éducative de Sainte-Rose in the days following the crash. Similar to both inside and outside the church, a makeshift memorial has been growing near the scene of the tragedy.
Earlier this week, two children died and six others were injured when a Laval transit driver drove a bus into the front of the daycare.
Pierre Ny St-Amand, a 51-year-old employee of the Société de transport de Laval (STL), was arrested at the scene and later charged with two counts of first-degree murder as well as seven other charges, including attempted murder and aggravated assault.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 17.
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with files from CBC's Chloe Ranaldi and Justin Hayward