The six hundred mostly Inuit residents of the northern Quebec village of Kangiqsualujjuaq had planned to bury the bodies of nine of their friends and children in a funeral this afternoon. But the bad weather that resulted in their deaths has also delayed the funeral until Tuesday.
Kangiqsualujjuaq* is about 1,500 kilometres north of Montreal, at the mouth of the George River on Ungava Bay. This region is known as Nunavik.
Five children and four adults died under the tons of snow. Twenty-five people were seriously injured.
"It was like an explosion. You heard an immense crack and the wall was flying into pieces and, the next thing you knew, the gym was entirely covered in snow. People were not, of course, wearing their outdoor clothes at that time -- it was very hot in that gym so it took everybody by surprise," says Jean Leduc, the school principal.
Mary Baron, the school director says "everybody was screaming. I wasn't buried completely and right away went to dig out my son."
Over the weekend, citizens dug graves in the frozen ground and prepared a garage for the service. Mourners will be joined by Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard and Prime Minister Jean Chretien if his airplane is able to land. Today there is a blizzard in the area.
It is now looking like the tragedy could have been prevented.
Principal Jean Leduc said an inquiry commissioned by the local school board after the earlier avalanche had recommended that fences be built. The fences were never built.
Speculation on the cause of the avalanche centered on a ceremonial gun salute at midnight, 90 minutes before the snow crashed in. Villagers wondered if the shots set in motion vibrations that eventually caused the avalanche, while others wondered if music from the dance had played a role.
Police and avalanche experts will travel to the village to investigate the tragedy. Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard announced there will be a full public inquiry into the disaster.
1. What is known as Nunavik?