Deadly spring in Nunavik has residents grieving tragic losses

First responders in Inukjuak tried to do CPR on a 16-year-old who crashed his all-terrain vehicle May 27, but the young driver died of his injuries. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

Nunavimmiut are reeling over the loss of several youth in fatal incidents across the region in recent weeks, including the death of a three-year-old hit by a truck.

The boy was playing outside his home in Tasiujaq May 22 when he was hit by a fuel truck around 12:40 p.m., the Kativik Regional Police Force said.

The child was taken to the community’s health centre where he was pronounced dead. A KRPF investigation determined it was an accident and no charges have been laid against the driver.

Two days later, Tasiujaq faced another major loss, when a young snowmobiler went missing.

The young man was seen driving his snowmobile along the river May 24, but later in the day, police said his snowmobile was found abandoned along the river’s edge.

Local Canadian Rangers launched a search effort over the next 24 hours but found no sign of the man.

Since then, the Northern Village of Tasiujaq has used drones and a helicopter to try to locate him. Divers have been unable to check the river due to current ice conditions.

The search and recovery effort had been called off as of June 6, the KRPF said.

Snowmobile goes through the ice outside of Kangirsuk

Further up Ungava Bay, Kangirsuk is grieving the death of another young man who died as spring ice conditions make for risky travel in the region.

On June 1, a group of people left Kangirsuk by snowmobile en route to Robert’s Lake, about a five-hour trip away.

At about 1 a.m. on June 2, witnesses said that one of the snowmobiles went through the ice. The passenger was able to swim to nearby ice but the driver drowned, KRPF said.

His body was recovered a half an hour later but bystanders were unable to resuscitate the young man.

Inukjuak teen dies in ATV crash

Along Nunavik’s Hudson coast, first responders in Inukjuak were called to the scene of an all-terrain vehicle crash May 27 near the community’s airport.

That’s where a 16-year-old girl lost control of her ATV and crashed.

She died later at the community’s health centre, the KRPF said. A male passenger survived the accident.

A previous version of this article said the victim of an Inukjuak ATV crash was a young man. It was in fact a young woman. Nunatsiaq News regrets the error.