"There was a tragic accident in Canada involving my father," said one of the sons, Fabien Claude, in an interview on the L'Equipe channel after winning a bronze medal at Thursday's Biathlon World Cup in Slovenia. Investigators do not know why the group left the approved paths to venture "off-piste" at nightfall, but some experts believe they may have been trying to take a short-cut to their destination.Ĭanadian police have not released the identity of the missing snowmobilers, but French media identified one as Gilles Claude, the father of three international biathletes. The surviving tourists were briefly hospitalized and treated for exposure and shock.
The 42-year-old guide, Benoit L'Esperance of Montreal, was pulled out by emergency response teams and taken to hospital, but he died overnight. Police said they were alerted by two of the tourists who had rescued a third from the water. The area is off limits to snowmobiles because the ice is thinner there. The snowmobiles crashed through ice Tuesday evening at a dangerous spot where Saint-Jean Lake funnels into a river. Dozens of police officers, backed by two helicopters, also were deployed in the area, which is about 225 kilometers (140 miles) north of Quebec City. "But the more time passes, the less likely this becomes."Ī third team of divers, with a small submarine equipped with sonar, joined the search at sunrise. "There a still certain points to check," Quebec provincial police spokesman Hugues Beaulieu said. Investigators are still hopeful that the French tourists managed to find refuge on an island or a chalet but have been unable to communicate, provincial police spokesman Hugues Beaulieu told AFP.