Nunavut MLA missing for a week found alive on Baffin Island

Uqqummiutmember of the NunavutLegislaturePauloosieKeyootak, his son Atamie Qiyuqtaq,and Peter Kakkikhave been found alive after a weeklong search.

The three arrived at Qikiqtani General Hospital in Iqaluit Thursdaynight tired, hungry and thirsty after being retrieved by a helicopter. All three were discharged a couple of hours later.

EdZebedee, the government ofNunavut'sdirector of protection services, greeted the men as they walked off the helicopter, a moment he described as emotional.

"HonestlyIwalkedover and gavePauloosie[Keyootak]a hug. There wasn't much said. I just gave him a hug."

Zebedee described the reaction oflocal searchers to the news as"ecstatic."

"There was a lot of cheering and hugging.We're still shaking," he said.

Zebedeesaid a Twin Otter with local spotters found the three missing men Thursday evening about 183 kilometressouth ofIqaluit.By their planned route, the men should have been travelling north.

Keyootak, 62, his 16-year-old son, andKakkik, 47, left Iqaluit by snowmobile andwere expected in Pangnirtung last Wednesday on their way to Qikiqtarjuaq. When the groupfailed to arrive in Pangnirtung, a search was begun.

According to Zebedee"the men had run into some caribou, it was storming out, they went after the caribou, got turned around in the weather, and got off course."

The search includedvolunteers from Pangnirtung, Qikiqtarjuaq and Iqaluit, as well as Canadian Forces aircraft. By Wednesday, Zebedee estimated that searchers hadcovered about a 15,000-square-kilometre area.

He said the air searchers were working on agrid system, and it was while the Twin Otter was flying itslast grid thatthe spotters saw snowmobile tracks and followed them to the three missing travellers.

Zebedeesaid the men had built two igloos to protect themselves from the wind and cold.

It's -25 C in Iqaluit today. Temperatures south of the city have dipped to -33 C this week.

Twin Otter damaged on landing

Zebedee saidthe aircraft suffered damagewhen it landed near the missing men, breaking a hydraulic line to a ski, and could nottake off again. ACormorant helicopter wassent to pick up the men.

"We caught the crew before they went to bed for thenight, so they went down and picked everybody up and brought them to Iqaluit."

Weather was becoming a concern, as snow was in the forecast for Saturday, which would have hampered search efforts.

Zebedee said searchers followed their procedures, "and everytime we follow them, we find them."

"We just hope people will start taking communication equipment with them so that we'll be able to find them immediately when they get in trouble."