A family in Montreal is rocked by a double tragedy after a father died in a small plane crash near the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, just months after his son died in a work-related Ferris wheel crash last December.
Gamaniel Valchin’s death in Haiti was confirmed to CBC News by his other son on Thursday morning.
The plane was heading to the southern coastal city of Jacmel on Wednesday when it tried to land in the Carrefour community and crashed into a truck carrying soda bottles. At least five people died.
Pierre Bellamy Samedi, the region’s police commissioner, said a total of five people were on board the plane. It is not known how many were injured on the ground.
Valchin’s death comes just months after his other son, 22-year-old Riley Jonathan Valchin, died in a work accident on a Ferris wheel in the Old Port of Montreal on Christmas Day.
Paule Robitaille, a member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, wrote on Twitter that she learned about Valchin’s death on Wednesday night. She said she was with Valchin last week when she awarded the family a posthumous medal from the National Assembly.
Terrible.
J’apprends ce soir la mort de Gamaniel Valcin in a plane incident in Haiti.
It is the land of Riley, declared 25-12-21 at the Grand Roue de
In the last week, he remembers a medal
Joey, mme Valcin, courage. pic.twitter.com/Isk8ck8TwE
– @PauleRobitaille
“A terrible fate for this exemplary family, which has and will continue to show great courage,” Robitaille wrote in a Facebook post.
Haiti’s National Civil Aviation Authority identified the aircraft as a Cessna 207, but no further details were available.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry wrote on Twitter that he was saddened by the crash and expressed his condolences to the relatives of the victims.
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