A small plane carrying workers from the global mining company Rio Tinto crashed near Fort Smith in Canada’s remote Northwest Territories on Tuesday while en route to the Diavik diamond mine, resulting in the deaths of some individuals on board. No details have been released regarding the number of fatalities or how many were on the flight, but North Western Air Lease, the owner of the registered aircraft, indicated on its website that it has two types of Jetstream aircraft, each capable of carrying 19 passengers.
Rio Tinto's CEO, Jakob Stausholm, stated in a statement that the news of the plane crash came as a shock to the company. He added, "We are working closely with the authorities and will spare no effort in assisting them to understand the circumstances of what happened." The Canadian Transportation Safety Board mentioned that a team of investigators will look into the details of the crash and that they are currently in the information-gathering stage. This latest crash follows a day after three people were killed and four seriously injured in a helicopter crash in the neighboring province of British Columbia.
