Six people died in Canada's far north on Tuesday when a small plane carrying diamond mine workers crashed, a source familiar with the investigation told AFP.
Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto said a plane with “multiple employees on board” crashed en route to its Diavik mine, causing “multiple fatalities.”
According to the Joint Operations Coordination Center, contact with the Northwestern Air aircraft was lost shortly after takeoff at around 8:50 a.m. local time (3:50 p.m. GMT) near Fort Smith, Northwest Territories.
The plane was carrying a total of seven people and one of them survived, according to the source familiar with the investigation. His health status is unknown.
Rescuers rode snowmobiles or parachutes to the crash site, 1.1 kilometers from the runway.
Flights to Fort Smith, a small town near the border with Alberta, were canceled until Wednesday.
Rio Tinto boss Jakob Stausholm said his company was “completely devastated by the news”.