Young family of three die in Taloyoak fire

(Updated 2:50, Feb. 3)

A fire that swept through a unit within a fourplex apartment building in Taloyoak Feb. 2 has killed a family of three, Nunavut RCMP and other sources said Feb. 3.

A source in Taloyoak told Nunatsiaq News a 23-year-old woman and her two children, boys aged four and two, are dead. The woman was pregnant with what would have been her third child.

The father of the two children is a man from Taloyoak who now lives in Yellowknife, the source said.

The fire stared between 6:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m., Feb. 2. Volunteer firefighters fought the fire for many hours, until they were exhausted, the source said.

Occupants inside three of the four apartment units were evacuated safely, the source said, but all families have lost their homes.

Police have yet to release the names of the deceased persons.

“The investigation is continuing to determine the cause of the fire along with the identity and number of victims inside,” police said in a news release Feb. 2.

(More to follow)