Neils Christensen
Northern News Services

Pond Inlet (Apr 12/04) - What started out as a day in a popular recreation area, April 4, ended in tragedy as an 11-year-old boy died in an avalanche.

Heather Taylor, acting head nurse at the health centre, said residents of Pond Inlet pulled together to help support each other following the incident. Councillors were also brought into the community to help people with the grieving process.

"The community has been very proactive in dealing with this tragedy," Taylor said. "The teachers, churches, hamlet officials and councillors have all been working together to help people."

The boy, whose name is being withheld, was part of a group of about 10 people who were at an area known as the Coal Mine, about 20 kilometres south of Pond Inlet. It is a popular recreation spot for residents. Shortly after the avalanche, the boy was reported missing.

Diane Schulze, Florence Wood and Lynn Hitchcock were travelling by snowmobile in the area at the time of the avalanche.

They immediately joined the search for the missing boy. Members of Pond Inlet search and rescue and RCMP soon joined in the effort.

The boy was found after about an hour-and-a-half later. Schulze and Wood began CPR right away. The boy was then taken to the health centre, where the doctor and nursing team tried unsuccessfully to revive him. He never regained consciousness.

RCMP Const. Ben Hitchcock said the police would like to thank everyone involved in the search. He said this was the first avalanche to hit the community in the past 10 years.

It's the second killer avalanche in Nunavut this year. Steven Nowdlak was killed near Cape Mercy, about 140 km from Panniqtuuq by an avalanche on Jan. 25. He was one of four men commercial fishing in the area at the time.