Local searchers still looking for man missing after boating accident near Kimmirut, Nunavut

Two people were involved in a boat accident on the weekend, roughly 30 kilometres from Kimmirut, Nunavut. Searchers have found the body of one man and the other man is still missing. (Emily Ridlington/CBC - image credit)
Two people were involved in a boat accident on the weekend, roughly 30 kilometres from Kimmirut, Nunavut. Searchers have found the body of one man and the other man is still missing. (Emily Ridlington/CBC - image credit)

A search has resumed for a man who went missing after a boat accident near Kimmirut, Nunavut, on the weekend.

The search now involves search-and-rescue volunteers, according to local coordinator Rosie Akavak.

"We have tasked out six boats this morning to go continue to search for the missing male. And as of right now, there's still no luck," Aklavak said on Tuesday.

Two people were involved in the boat accident on the weekend, roughly 30 kilometres from Kimmirut, Nunavut. Searchers found the body of one person, a man in his 20s who was the son of the man who's still missing.

Officials said the two men were out looking for soapstone, when their boat struck an object near Big Island (Qikiqtarjuaq) on Friday morning.

Akavak said the search for the father had officially been called off by RCMP on Sunday evening, but local volunteers planned to continue. She posted on social media that evening, requesting donations to help pay for gas, food and supplies to continue the search.

"We were going to just continue even without the help of JRCC [Joint Rescue Coordination Centre] or Iqaluit search-and-rescue where we get the funding from," she said. "We were going to just search on our own as a community."

Akavak said high winds on Monday prevented any searchers from heading out onto the water. By Tuesday morning she had word that Iqaluit search-and-rescue would fund the continuing efforts "on a day-to-day basis."

"There's nobody else searching from different communities, but we are receiving funds and donations from other communities, and some outside of Nunavut," Akavak said.

Akavak said the searchers are still focused on the same area, near Big Island.

"The current at Big Island is so strong that it just pushes stuff towards the island, so we're hoping that we'll find something," she said.