A black Saturday for snowmobiling in Quebec: 4 dead in as many accidents

Snowmobile outings were particularly deadly this weekend, with the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) opening investigations into four separate fatal accidents on Saturday alone.

The most recent event occurred around 9:30 p.m. on Gage Road in Stanbridge East, in the Eastern Townships.

“For an unknown reason, the driver of the snowmobile would have gone off the road into the ditch. We are talking about a 47-year-old man who was transported to a hospital, initially in critical condition, but unfortunately, his death was pronounced a little later,” said Sergeant Valérie Beauchamp, spokesperson for the SQ, in an interview Sunday morning.

“An SQ patrol officer specializing in collision investigation was dispatched to the scene to analyze the scene and try to understand what happened,” she said.

Three hours earlier, Saturday evening at around 6:30 p.m., police officers from the Sûreté du Québec were mobilized in Saint-David-de-Falardeau, in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region, where three snowmobilers sank in the waters of Lac La Mothe during a hike.

“Three men were travelling on the ice on two snowmobiles when they found themselves in the water. Two of them managed to get out, but the third, unfortunately, is still missing,” summarized Sergeant Beauchamp.

SQ divers were mobilized, and the search had been ongoing since Sunday morning to recover the body of the snowmobiler who was still missing.

Firefighters were also called to the scene to comb the banks.

There are no fears for the lives of the two surviving snowmobilers.

“The two men in their twenties were taken care of by paramedics, and, fortunately, we do not fear for their lives. The man who is still missing is in his forties,” said the SQ spokesperson.

As if that were not enough, rescue workers were also called to the scene of a fatal snowmobile swerve that occurred Saturday around 5 p.m. in Hemmingford, Montérégie.

“The victim, we are talking about a 47-year-old woman, was riding alone on her snowmobile, on trail number five, when there was a loss of control. It collided with a tree. Resuscitation maneuvers were attempted on the victim. Unfortunately, he was pronounced dead at the hospital,” said Sergeant Beauchamp.

The victim is a resident of Saint-Patrice-de-Sherrington, a small municipality nearby.

This deadly series on a snowmobile began Saturday, around 12:40 p.m., in Mont-Carmel, in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region.

Emergency services were called to the scene of a collision between a pick-up vehicle and a snowmobile on Route 287, near kilometre 15.

“The snowmobiler was riding on a trail and, when he arrived at the intersection of Route 287, he allegedly failed to make his mandatory stop. He was hit by the pickup truck that was traveling southbound on Route 287,” said Valérie Beauchamp.

The 57-year-old snowmobiler was pronounced dead at the hospital.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews