Two bodies were found in Riviere-Eternité

The bodies of forty-two people missing since last Saturday were found Tuesday evening in Rivière-Eternité in Saguenay.

On July 1, two people were found by divers from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) at 6:15 p.m., near the site of a landslide that swept three people into the current.

SQ Hugues Beaulieu’s sergeant indicated that these could be the bodies of the two missing men, but it was necessary to await proper identification of the victims to the coroner’s satisfaction.

“They were under the rubble,” he said. We have to wait for the sign to reveal the sign.

According to the investigation, there may not have been any other victims, and the search ended when two bodies were found.

The Transport Ministry, for its part, is trying to build a bypass on the collapsed Route 170 near the village.

In the Parc du Fjord-du-Saguenay sector, the “extraordinary amount” of rain that fell in two hours on Saturday caused a “series of disturbances” including “seven or eight landslides” on rue Notre. The dam, which goes to the camp of the Société des Establishments de Plein Air du Québec (SEPAQ), explained Denis Demers, a geotechnical engineer at the Ministry of Transport.

During a press conference on Tuesday morning, the engineer presented an aerial photograph that showed the vehicle in which the people who went missing on Saturday were sitting.

“What we understand from this event is that first there would have been a small landslide, people would have got out of their vehicles to clear the debris from the road, and most of the landslides would have formed and pushed people towards the eternal river. It was a real stream. »

“One of the two people was clinging to the tree,” he said – the man was rescued and taken to hospital – but the other, a woman, was pushed towards the river.

A third person, a man, also went missing in the river.

Research is stymied by garbage

Helicopters, nautical teams, several walkers and members of the Quebec Association of Search and Rescue Volunteers have been involved in the search since the beginning.

Searches were concentrated on Tuesday along the banks and banks of the small, very meandering river, which is 1.8 kilometers long.

The SQ said excavations were slowed by the large amount of debris left on the banks by the landslide. The sweltering heat also hampered the work of search teams, which had to be supplied by helicopters.

Divers from the Sûreté du Québec had to survey the seabed again on Tuesday, when the river flow was higher than usual.

Road 170 repair

Landslides buried the road at many places, sudden erosion turned gullies into streams, major sections of the road were washed away, and soil was carried onto private land.

“We had 130 millimeters of rain, maybe more” and “this rain fell very quickly, in two hours, very little water penetrated and practically trickled the surface,” explained Denis Demers, a geotechnical engineer at the Ministry of Transport. “The steep topography caused the water to flow into the streams, which overflowed their beds very quickly”.

The Department of Transportation was busy Tuesday trying to repair Highway 170, which was damaged in four places. The work may take several days.

Meanwhile, ministry staff are trying to build a bypass at Rivière-Eternité for emergency vehicles.

No threat to homes

The results of the geothermal surveys showed that 33 sites located near private residences were assessed as having “no landslide threat,” according to the Ministry of Transport.

The damage to the residences is now being assessed.

“People need to look at the condition of their land, look at the condition of the sand, see if there’s mud in the foundation, see if it’s healthy, if the artesian wells are still working,” explained Denise Demers. There is no damage to their land and they can quickly return.

On Sunday, the SQ had to evacuate by helicopter 94 people staying at the Society of Outdoor Establishments of Quebec’s (SEPAQ) camp in Parc du Fjord-du-Saguenay after being isolated by a Rue collapse. Notre-Dame. In addition, 133 tourists were evacuated by sea shuttle to La Baie borough in Saguenay.

In the municipality of Rivière-Éternité, 48 adults and six children living in 34 apartments had to be evacuated to a hotel or to be transferred to relatives.

Watch the video