Family of 4 missing in Quebec landslide
Firefighters reach house 12 hours after ground gave way
Last Updated: Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Article Link
Picture GalleryLink
The instability of the ground is complicating the work of rescue teams continuing their search for a family of four who disappeared after a landslide swallowed their house Monday night in a small town 60 kilometres northeast of Montreal.
Firefighters managed to reach the green-roofed home in Saint-Jude, a town of 1,000 residents north of St-Hyacinthe near the Yamaska River, Tuesday morning, nearly 12 hours after the house collapsed and fell nine metres in a landslide.
The ground is saturated with water, and the house has moved more than 30 metres from its original location, said Michel C. Doré, Quebec's associate deputy public security minister, on the scene Tuesday afternoon.
Officials are trying to pump out water from the basement of the house and could knock down walls to facilitate rescue efforts, Doré said.
Local authorities said the family's vehicles were parked in front of the house on Monday night, leading them to believe the missing people — Richard Préfontaine, his wife, and their two daughters, ages nine and 11 — were inside when the ground gave way.
Préfontaine's uncle, Yvon Desrochers, told CBC News he fears the family was in their basement watching the Canadiens-Penguins hockey game during the collapse.
The Préfontaines are huge Habs fans, he said.
Late Tuesday morning, rescue workers found the family's golden retriever in a pit, caked in mud but in relatively good shape, said the CBC's Elias Abboud, reporting from the scene.
But there is still no sign of the family, despite numerous calls to Préfontaine's cellphone in an attempt to locate them in the debris.
Driver alerts police after truck fell into gaping hole
The collapse happened just after 9:30 p.m. on Monday night.
More on link
Firefighters reach house 12 hours after ground gave way
Last Updated: Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Article Link
Picture GalleryLink
The instability of the ground is complicating the work of rescue teams continuing their search for a family of four who disappeared after a landslide swallowed their house Monday night in a small town 60 kilometres northeast of Montreal.
Firefighters managed to reach the green-roofed home in Saint-Jude, a town of 1,000 residents north of St-Hyacinthe near the Yamaska River, Tuesday morning, nearly 12 hours after the house collapsed and fell nine metres in a landslide.
The ground is saturated with water, and the house has moved more than 30 metres from its original location, said Michel C. Doré, Quebec's associate deputy public security minister, on the scene Tuesday afternoon.
Officials are trying to pump out water from the basement of the house and could knock down walls to facilitate rescue efforts, Doré said.
Local authorities said the family's vehicles were parked in front of the house on Monday night, leading them to believe the missing people — Richard Préfontaine, his wife, and their two daughters, ages nine and 11 — were inside when the ground gave way.
Préfontaine's uncle, Yvon Desrochers, told CBC News he fears the family was in their basement watching the Canadiens-Penguins hockey game during the collapse.
The Préfontaines are huge Habs fans, he said.
Late Tuesday morning, rescue workers found the family's golden retriever in a pit, caked in mud but in relatively good shape, said the CBC's Elias Abboud, reporting from the scene.
But there is still no sign of the family, despite numerous calls to Préfontaine's cellphone in an attempt to locate them in the debris.
Driver alerts police after truck fell into gaping hole
The collapse happened just after 9:30 p.m. on Monday night.
More on link
