A medical helicopter carrying four crew members and a patient crashed into a lake in rural Quebec on Friday night, prompting a search for the missing individuals, according to officials.
Emergency responders began their search on Saturday for four people who were unaccounted for following the incident. The helicopter, operated by Airmedic, had five individuals on board, including one patient.
One person was located with non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to a hospital, as reported by Sgt. Laurie Avoine of the Quebec provincial police. It remains unclear whether this individual was part of the crew.
The crash occurred around 10:30 p.m. in a wooded area north of Natashquan, Quebec. The Canadian Armed Forces have been enlisted to assist the provincial police in the search efforts.
Search teams are conducting operations on the ground, in the water, and from the air to locate those who are missing. Nicholas Defalco, a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, indicated that the helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff, although the specific departure and destination points have not been disclosed.
Airmedic announced on its website that it is temporarily suspending its air operations until further notice. Natashquan, located on the north shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and approximately 625 miles northeast of Quebec City, is characterized as “really at the edge of the world” by the province’s tourism group.
The village, which has a population of around 300, is known as the childhood home of Québécois singer-songwriter and poet Gilles Vigneault. The Côte-Nord region, where Natashquan is situated, has a population of fewer than 100,000 and attracts tourists for activities such as whale watching and forest exploration.