Quebec provincial police say they’re searching Watshishou Lake, on the North Shore, for four people who went missing after their helicopter crashed Friday night.
Divers with the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) are joining a search party involving the Canadian Armed Forces Sunday. The search for the missing people aboard the helicopter had to be paused overnight.
The SQ was alerted to the crash around 10:30 p.m. Friday. The Airmedic helicopter carrying four crew members and one passenger, was in the process of a medical evacuation when it crashed into a lake shortly after takeoff, according to Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB).
One of the crew members managed to escape, confirmed Airmedic, in circumstances that are still unclear. The person was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the SQ said on Saturday.
The Royal Canadian Air Force is also participating in the search, said Lieutenant-Commander Len Hickey, senior public affairs officer for Joint Task Force Headquarters.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax has dispatched a CC-130 Hercules and a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter to assist, the officer said.
The TSB has opened an investigation into the crash. Quebec’s workplace safety board (CNESST) has also gotten involved.
Airmedic called the incident a tragedy that has deeply shaken its team, it wrote in an emailed statement.
“Due to this, management has temporarily suspended operations in order to prioritize the well-being of our teams and provide them with all the necessary support,” the company wrote.
Watshishou Lake is about 50 kilometres north from the shore of the Jacques Cartier Strait and just under 900 kilometres northeast from Quebec City.
