Three Kivalliq men found in strange SAR mission
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Rankin Inlet (Jan 24/01) - A successful search-and-rescue (SAR) mission took a strange twist in the Kivalliq Region earlier this month.
The Nunavut Emergency Management Operations Centre in Rankin Inlet was notified on Jan. 12 that Rankin fire Chief Roger Aksadjuak and Paul Taleriktok of Arviat had not arrived in Whale Cove when expected.
The two had left Arviat at 10:30 a.m. for the six-hour trek by snowmobile to Whale Cove.
Department spokesperson Tim Hinds says Whale Cove dispatched two SAR members at 6:30 p.m. and two more at 10 p.m. with fuel to resupply the first two members.
"We phoned Arviat at about 10:30 p.m. that night to see if they could join in the search and that's when we were informed they were already conducting a search for Steven Kipsigak," says Hinds.
"He was on his way back to Arviat from a fishing trip in the Ferguson Lake area when his machine broke down near Bibby Island.
"It took SAR members a bit longer to find him because he originally indicated by radio that he was in the Sandy Point area."
Kipsigak had actually crossed over the trail of the other two missing men on their way to Whale during the ordeal.
Aksadjuak and Taleriktok were following the coastal trail from Arviat to Whale when they ran into bad weather.
"They started to lose the trail and Roger actually hit the floe edge twice.
"When he hit the edge for the second time they realized they were lost and decided to camp for the night."
The Whale Cove SAR team, made up of Stanley Adjuk, Tommy Ekwalak and Robert Innuapik, found Aksadjuak and Taleriktok while trying to assist Kipsigak.
All three men were located between 10:40 and 11:15 a.m. on Jan. 13.
Kipsigak was located about 96 kilometres north of Arviat, while Aksadjuak and Taleriktok were found about 64 kilometres south of Rankin.
None of the men were seriously injured.
In total, four SAR members from Arviat and seven from Whale Cove took part in the search.
"All three men were well-equipped and having radio contact was a tremendous advantage for SAR members.
"Two Calm Air flights also did a quick fly over and checked grid co-ordinates we had given them and that also saved us a lot of time."
