Authorities have located the bodies of four family members whose home was destroyed in a landslide northeast of Montreal.
The landslide struck Monday night on the outskirts of Saint-Jude, Que., near a tributary of the Yamaska River. It left a hole four times larger than a football field, damaged a two-lane road and prompted the evacuation of five other houses in the town, which is located about 50 kilometres outside of Montreal.
After nearly 24 hours of searching the family's property, authorities located the remains of Richard Prefontaine, Lynne Charbonneau, and their two girls, nine-year-old Amelie and 11-year-old Anais, in the rubble of their destroyed home.
The bodies were found in the basement, where authorities believe the Prefontaine family was watching the Montreal-Pittsburgh playoff hockey game when the landslide occurred.
"After digging and going through the rubble we found the four victims," said Michel Dore, Quebec's emergency management co-ordinator. "They were found very close to one another, some of them lying on the couch in the family room in the basement."
Rescue crews had been using helicopters and a K9 team to scour the property and brought in heavy machinery to help them gain access to the sunken house.
However, progress had been slow. Rescuers made several attempts to make their way inside the house overnight Monday but had to stop due to safety concerns.
Earlier on Tuesday, they found the family's golden retriever, Foxy, alive but severely weakened in the mud near the house.
Meanwhile, family gathered near the property, waiting to find out the fate of their loved ones.
At the Aux Quatre-Vents elementary school in Saint-Jude, students heard what had happened at the house where one of their fellow students lived.
Principal Chantal Gagnon said the school had never been so quiet.
Mayor Yves de Bellefeuille said residents are in shock after seeing what happened to the house in Saint-Jude.
He said counselors would be made available to people who need help.
Cause unknown
Geologist Judith Patterson said the swath of displaced land bore the hallmarks of "lateral spread," a type of sideways landslide.
Parts of the region sit on a "quick clay" that can liquefy, causing such events, she said.
"These clays, they're stable when they're undisturbed. But once they're disturbed, then they become very hazardous," she told CTV News Channel.
Patterson noted that a lot of rain had fallen on Saint-Jude over the weekend, which may have been a contributing factor.
Dore said about 100 landslides occur in the province every year, but most are minor.
In 1971, a major landslide struck the town of St-Jean-Vianney, Que., killing 31 people and destroying 38 homes.
With files from The Canadian Press
