Security measures are under scrutiny Monday after a young man was crushed under a float at the St. Patrick's Day parade downtown.

Alexandre Hamelin, 20, of Laval, was pinned underneath the wheels of the Marianopolis College float at the tail end of the parade on Ste Catherine Street around 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Police say the young man and a friend had run into the street and hopped up onto the flatbed truck as it inched slowly along the street.

After a few blocks, they decided to jump off while it was still moving, and Hamelin fell under the wheels as stunned parade participants watched.

Investigators have confirmed that alcohol was a factor, and the coroner's office will likely investigate.

It is the first death in 186 years of the annual parade.

Family, friends in shock

The victim's sister, Stephanie Hamelin, said the news has left the family in crisis.

"My mom is destroyed. It's hard, especially for his twin sister, Chloe, and my mom, because she never got to say goodbye," she said.

"He has been looking forward to this parade. For a month now, he's been talking about going to the St. Patrick's day parade. He goes every year with friends and we're not upset at him that he drank, we just know that he had fun he was doing what he wanted to do," said the victim's sister.

Classmates were given the day off at the St. Pius Culinary Institute, where Hamelin was studying.

He was a popular student, said principal Marysa Barassi.

"He was happy-go-lucky. You could hear him before you saw him," she said.

Questions

One of the items that will be looked at is crowd control.

Security personnel had been lining the parade route to keep people on the sidewalk, and off of the street.

But there were no barricades, making it possible to slip into the procession.

Montreal police Cmdr. Paul Chablo said the force is against creating a barricade, like in other cities.

"We as a police force have a responsibility to ensure public safety, but at the same time, people have the responsibility to act accordingly at these events," said Chablo.

Gerald Showers with the United Irish Societies told CTV's Rob Lurie that his organization will work with police to get to the bottom of the tragedy.

"We certainly will be sitting down with them and conversing as to how to ensure that this type of thing never, ever, ever happens again," he said.

Showers said parade organizers tell participants to keep spectator from climbing on the floats.

"Obviously we dissuade this type of thing. Even participants in the parade are told if they have anything to hand out to the public, that they are the ones who go to the public. There is no on or off of floats."

Each year, many parade-goers drink openly at the event and at times it can become unruly.

Just hours after the young man's death, a group of revellers got into a fight at the same corner where Hamelin died.

In 2002, another Concordia student slipped under the wheel of a parade float and crushed his legs.