Searchers arrive too late to save missing Akulivik woman

(Updated May 15, 2:00 p.m.)

People in Akulivik are mourning the death of a woman, who died after she and a male companion became lost on the land near the Hudson Bay community.

After they were reported missing May 9, the municipality and local Canadian Rangers organized a search and rescue operation.

The man was found early in the evening on May 10 suffering from exhaustion and was transported to the local health clinic for follow-up, the Kativik Regional Government said in a May 14 statement.

The woman was found dead the next morning, not declared dead at the local health clinic, as the KRG reported, said Adamie Alayco, the mayor of Akulivik.

Alayco said the woman was found three kilometres west of where the snowmobile was located, 46 km south of Akulivik.

“There was no equipment failure,” he told Nunatsiaq News, although the KRG had attributed the death to bad weather and equipment failure.

“We thank all the people who were involed with the search and rescue,and the people of Puvirnituq who help with located the missing persons,” Alayco said. “We express our condolence to the families.”