ROBERVAL, QUE. -- An all-terrain vehicle (ATV) accident has left one person dead and another injured in an isolated area of the Gouin reservoir, north of Quebec City.

Surete du Quebec (SQ) police officers from the Domaine-Du-Roy MRC station in Roberval, Saguenay --Lac-Saint-Jean, received the emergency call around 1:30 a.m. Saturday about a fatal crash that occurred a few hours earlier north of the Gouin reservoir.

"There were two men on an ATV in an isolated area. They were travelling at a low speed on a logging road, but they came to a place where the road had collapsed. They fell off the ATV and were ejected," said SQ spokeswoman Sgt. Marythe Bolduc. "The driver, in his 30s, suffered a leg injury while his passenger, a 68-year-old man, died as a result of the fall."

"It was a long and painful process for the survivor," she added. "Since they were in an isolated area, the ATV driver went to notify the rest of the group. They loaded the victim into a vehicle and drove for several hours to a location where they were able to call for help in La Doré."

The 68-year-old man who died was a resident of Saint-François-de-Sales, near Roberval. His death was confirmed shortly after his arrival at the hospital.

The individual who accompanied him was also transported to the hospital for treatment of his leg injury.

"At first glance, there is no criminal element, but there is still an investigation being conducted by the Surete du Quebec to clarify the causes and circumstances surrounding this sad event', said the SQ spokesperson.

-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 26, 2021.