Search for two missing persons after Quebec landslide a ‘colossal’ task: police
SAGUENAY, Que. – The search for two people swept away by a landslide and a flooded river in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region has been complicated by the location of the river and debris in the water, provincial police said Monday.
A man and a woman, both in their 40s, went missing on Saturday after a major landslide along the river Éternité, which was flooded by torrential rain.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” said police spokesman Sgt. That’s what Hugues Beaulieu said at a press conference in Rivière Éternité, Que. “There’s still a lot of debris to be cleared and the river at the highest point has grown four times its normal size, leaving a lot of debris behind, which greatly complicates the job for the people on the ground.”
On Sunday, about 30 police officers searched the area, along with police divers and two helicopters.
Beaulieu said they have now been joined by officers who specialize in search and rescue, along with trained volunteers.
The search is taking place in the Éternité River near where it flows into the larger Saguenay River, he said, but the local geography is complex.
“The river doesn’t go into the Saguenay River in a single line, it’s a really long snake with lots of branches, so it’s a colossal job for the police officers to do today,” he said.
The river is still well above normal levels, Beaulieu said, after the storm dumped about 130 millimeters of rain on the area in two hours, according to Environment Canada estimates.
He said the two missing persons are not from the town of Rivière Éternité, but declined to say where they are from.
More than 50 residents of Rivière Éternité were forced to leave their homes after the storm, which washed away roads and caused flooding in the city.
Mayor Rémi Gagné said there is no timeline yet for their return.
“There is a lot of work to be done. We have to check that the ground is good. We have no sewage system, they are all septic tanks, we have to check that these septic tanks are in good condition and do not cause pollution. We have to clean the septic tanks of all residents,” he told reporters. “We also have to check the houses, because there was water, mud in the houses and in the basements.”
Drinking water is not currently available in the evacuated area, he said, and will need to be reconnected before people can return.
A provincial road that runs through the city has been washed away in two places. Quebec’s transportation department said it plans to construct a detour of about a kilometer, mainly to allow emergency services through, due to work needed to repair the road.
Transport department spokesman Mario Goudreau said one of those wash-offs is along a culvert that is 40 feet (12 meters) deep, further complicating repairs.
Police evacuated 94 people who had been isolated in a nearby provincial park accessed by the same road where the two people disappeared.
Another 133 holidaymakers were evacuated by boat.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 3, 2023.
— By Jacob Serebrin in Montreal, with files from Pierre Saint-Arnaud.
