MONTREAL – A small plane has crashed in the Îles de la Madeleine, just off eastern Quebec, leaving all seven passengers dead.
Former federal MP turned-Quebec journalist Jean Lapierre, 59, was on board the plane, travelling with his family to attend his father’s funeral on the small islands.
Lapierre’s spouse, Nicole Beaulieu, two of his brothers and one of his sisters were among the seven victims.
READ MORE: Jean Lapierre dead in plane crash at age 59
Lapierre’s last tweet, posted one day before his death, included a picture of his father Raymond and announced his passing.
https://twitter.com/Jean_Lapierre/status/714507655717527553
Lapierre is survived by his two children, Marie-Anne and Jean-Michel.
WATCH: Îles de la Madeleine crash scene
The plane, identified as a Mitsubishi MU-2B-60, appears to have crashed on approach to the Îles de la Madeleine in bad weather.
Environment Canada issued a wind warning for the area Tuesday afternoon, with gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour expected.
Images from the crash site showed the heavily damaged body of the aircraft, which has a capacity of about 10 people, lying in a field.
Ambulance technician Benoit Leblanc said six of the seven people were declared dead at the scene, while a seventh person died later after suffering cardiac arrest.
Upon hearing of the former Liberal cabinet minister’s sudden death Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that it was “A great loss to the political world.”
WATCH: Trudeau responds to Jean Lapierre’s death
“It just has me reeling,” Trudeau said in an interview with Global News.
“He was such a strong fixture in Quebec and Canadian political life and media landscape. It hasn’t actually sunk in that he’s not with us any more.”
Lapierre was first elected to the Commons as a Liberal in 1979 and served until 1990 when he joined the Bloc Quebecois.
He left politics in the early 1990s and then returned to the Liberal fold in 2004 under Paul Martin, who named him transport minister.
Tributes quickly poured in for Lapierre and others lost in the crash.
WATCH: Paul Martin says he’ll miss Jean Lapierre’s friendship the most following former MP’s death
The Transportation Safety Board confirmed in a release that is was sending a team of investigators to the scene.
With files from The Canadian Press and Global News’ Tania Kohut
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