Four people from St. Theresa Point First Nation are dead after a float plane crashed about 40 kilometres south of the northeastern Manitoba community on Saturday evening, police said.
Police, military search-and-rescue personnel and a chartered helicopter responded to the area of Makepeace Lake, where the crash was reported around 6:45 p.m., Manitoba RCMP said in a news release on Sunday.
Police said that four people — all passengers — were pronounced dead at the scene. Those killed were a 49-year-old man, two 50-year-old women and a 53-year-old man.
All four were from St. Theresa Point First Nation and were heading to Makepeace Lake, police said. The lake is around 425 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, near the Manitoba-Ontario border.
The float plane was supposed to land on the water, but crashed on land just north of the lake, police said.
The pilot, a 20-year-old man, suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, RCMP said. Police said the search-and-rescue team provided medical assistance to the pilot, with officials spending the night at the crash site.
Manitoba RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Paul Manaigre said St. Theresa Point’s chief and council have been notified of the identities of the four people killed Saturday. Their names have not been released to the public.
Chief Raymond Flett said the community is still in shock after losing four community members — two couples, each with young children, he said.
Flett said they were heading out on a weekend trip to their traditional hunting grounds when the plane went down.
In a statement posted to Facebook on Sunday, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and Grand Chief Kyra Wilson sent their “deepest condolences” to the St. Theresa Point community.
“We grieve with you. The loss of community members in such a sudden and devastating way is felt across all our Nations. In this time of heartbreak, we stand with St. Theresa Point, holding up the families and community in prayer, love, and strength,” AMC wrote.
Flett said the community hasn’t received much information about the crash, as they anxiously await details from the ongoing RCMP and federal transportation safety authority investigations.
“Our condolences are going out to those family members, friends, community members. It’s going to be tough,” said Manaigre.
“Hopefully we can get some information to them very soon as to exactly what happened,” he said.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada confirmed to CBC News that it is investigating the crash, which involved a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver float plane.
Police are still investigating, according to the RCMP release.
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