The bodies of the two forty-somethings who had been missing since last Saturday were located in Rivière-Éternité, in Saguenay, on Tuesday evening.
The two people were found by divers from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) around 6:15 p.m., near the place where a landslide occurred which had carried away three people in the current, on July 1.
Sergeant of the SQ Hugues Beaulieu indicated that it is probably the bodies of the two missing persons, but that it will be necessary to wait for the formal identification of the victims to the satisfaction of the coroner.
“They were under debris,” he said. We will have to wait for the identification to reveal the identity”.
According to the investigation, there would be no other victims, the discovery of the two bodies therefore put an end to the search.
For its part, the Ministry of Transport is trying to establish a bypass on Route 170, which has collapsed near the village.
The “phenomenal amount” of rain that fell in two hours on Saturday on “very steep terrain” in the Parc du Fjord-du-Saguenay sector caused a “series of disorders”, including “seven, or eight landslides” on rue Notre-Dame which leads to the campsite of the Société des establishments de plein air du Québec (SEPAQ), explained the geotechnical engineer of the Ministry of Transport Denis Demers.
During a press conference on Tuesday morning, the engineer presented an aerial photo on which we can see the vehicle in which people who disappeared on Saturday were seated.
“What we understand from the event is that there would have been a first small landslide, people would have got out of the vehicle to clear the debris on the road, when most of the landslide was produced and would have pushed people towards the Eternity River which was a real torrent. »
He added that “one of the two people managed to cling to a tree” – this man was able to be rescued and taken to hospital – but the other, a woman, was pushed towards the river.
A third person, a man, also disappeared into the river.
Research slowed down by debris
Helicopters, nautical teams, several walkers and members of the Quebec Association of Search and Rescue Volunteers have participated in the search since the beginning.
The searches were concentrated on Tuesday on the bed and banks of the small, very winding river, over a stretch of about 1.8 kilometers, before it empties into the Saguenay River.
The SQ said that the excavations were slowed down by the numerous debris that were left on the banks by the landslide. The heat enveloping the region also hampered the work of the search teams who had to be supplied by helicopters.
Divers from the Sûreté du Québec again had to probe the seabed on Tuesday, when the flow of the river was much higher than usual.
Road 170 Repair
Landslides buried the road in several places, sudden erosion turned ditches into torrents, major sections of road were washed away and soil on private land was transported.
“We had 130 millimeters of rain and maybe even more” and as “this rain fell very quickly, in two hours, very little water infiltrated and it practically trickled on the surface” , explained the geotechnical engineer of the Ministry of Transport Denis Demers, adding that “the steep terrain caused the water to run off in the streams which overflowed their beds very quickly”.
The Department of Transportation was busy Tuesday trying to restore Highway 170 which was damaged in four places. The work could take several days.
In the meantime, ministry employees are trying to build a bypass at Rivière-Éternité for emergency vehicles.
‘No threat’ to homes
The results of geothermal inspections show that the 33 sites located near private residences that have been assessed show “no threat of landslide” according to the Ministry of Transport.
It now remains to assess the damage to the residences.
“People must see the state of their land, see the state of sand, see if there is mud in the basement, see if it is healthy, if the artesian wells are still functional” , explained Denis Demers, specifying that “if there is no damage on their land, they can return quickly”.
On Sunday, the SQ had to evacuate by helicopter 94 people who were staying at the campsite of the Society of Outdoor Establishments of Quebec (SEPAQ), in the Parc du Fjord-du-Saguenay, after they had been isolated by the collapse of rue Notre-Dame. In addition, 133 other vacationers had been evacuated by sea shuttle to the borough of La Baie, in Saguenay.
In the municipality of Rivière-Éternité, 48 adults and six children living in 34 residences had to be evacuated to be relocated to a hotel or to relatives.