Snowmobiler killed after being buried in avalanche near Nain

A snowmobilerhas died following an avalanche nearNainlate Saturday afternoon, police say.

NainRCMPreceived a report shortly after 3 p.mthat an avalanche had struck a few kilometres outside the northern Labrador community in an area popular with snowmobilers known as the Blowhole.

According to police, three men were caught in the avalanche, but only two emerged at the bottom of the slide, and were unable to locate the third man.

The entire Nain detachmentresponded to the area to search for the man, along with about 100 community members, the RCMP say.

He was located after a search that lasted nearly two hours and was brought to the local clinic, where he was later pronounced dead.

Some residents made posts on social media to call for help. One post requestedthat anyone with a snowmobile and a shovel volunteer to locate the man.

Nain is currently under an extreme cold alert, according to Environment Canada, with evening wind chill dipping to -36 C.

The area has a history ofavalanches. In 2003, six snowmobilers, including an RCMP officer, narrowly escaped a cascade of snow.

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