4 kids, 1 man dead after Quebec fishing accident

A fishing excursion ended in tragedy on Saturday when four children and one adult died in a village in northeastern Quebec, provincial police said.

Police said divers found the body of the missing man, who was in his 30s, in the river and he was pronounced dead at a hospital.

He was identified as 37-year-old Keven Girard. A Sûreté du Québec spokesperson says Girard lived in the village of Les Bergeronnes, which sits along the river’s shores about 60 kilometres southwest of the accident.

His death was announced after the bodies of four other people – all minors older than 10 – were found unresponsive on the river bank on Saturday, a few hours after an emergency call about a group swept up by the tide near Portneuf-sur-Mer, about 550 kilometres northeast of Montreal.

Police said the five were among a group of 11 people who were fishing for capelin on foot near the shore when they were caught off guard by the rising tide.

Police declined to name the children, but Girard’s aunt by marriage, Vivian Lavoie, said his sons Patrick and Jerome Girard were among the victims.

“Everyone is gutted,” Lavoie said in French on Sunday from the village of Les Bergeronnes, which was also Girard’s hometown.

“Everyone knows each other here. It’s tight here. Everyone is affected, because we know them all.”

Mayor Jean-Maurice Tremblay said the town of Portneuf-sur-Mer, a community of about 600 people, was devastated.

“Everyone is affected by what happened, because this kind of event, it’s the first time it’s happened,” Tremblay said in French. “When it involves five people, and four children drowning during a recreational activity, it’s certain people are quite sad about it.”

Following police announcements, a wave of social media posts expressed grief, sympathy and heartfelt affection for the victims and their loved ones.

Samuel Brassard, Girard’s cousin, left a post on his relative’s Facebook page late Saturday night with the image of a burning candle underneath.

“You were like a brother to me,” he wrote in French, and recalled their last get-together the week before, shortly after the burial of their grandmother.

“We had started saying our goodbyes to our loved ones and wondering who will be next. Had I known that a few days after it was you and your little men that I had to say goodbye, I would have made sure the party never ended. You left too soon, I’ll never forget you, I love you!”

Officials from Portneuf-sur-Mer, a community of about 600 people that sits 60 kilometres northeast of Girard’s hometown, also shared condolences on the town’s Facebook page.

“The municipality of Portneuf-sur-Mer and all the citizens unite in the same spirit to wish the bereaved families and their friends good luck! Our deepest condolences and thoughts are with you,” the post read.

Quebec provincial police divers and Canadian Forces members took part in the search for Girard throughout Saturday afternoon.

Capelin – a silvery smelt fish – are a forage species consumed by many marine animals, and Tremblay said fishing for them is a popular activity in his part of Quebec’s north shore. It is done on the banks of the river using scoops rather than fishing lines.

Capelin most often roll at night, so people light a fire on the shore and wait, Tremblay added.

Tremblay said the sandbank on which the victims were fishing is accessed by all-terrain vehicles. They were caught on a part of the peninsula where parts can be submerged by up to four metres of water when the tide rises.

Tremblay said it’s important to watch for fluctuating tides, something that’s difficult to identify at night.

—With files from Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press