The chief of the remote northern Ontario community of Attawapiskat First Nation says the reserve had five more suicide attempts on Friday.
Chief Bruce Shisheesh tweeted out the news on Saturday, reporting on a busy night at the local hospital dealing with the recent attempts. It was not immediately clear how the children are.
The First Nation community declared a state of emergency last Saturday after 11 young people attempted to take their own lives in one weekend. The community of roughly 2,000 had 28 suicide attempts in March alone.
Following calling the state of emergency, officials prevented a suicide pact by 13 aboriginal youth, including a nine-year-old, after they were overheard making plans to kill themselves.
A disaster response team was sent to the community to help provide crisis relief and Canadian legislators held a special parliamentary session Tuesday night to address the suicide attempts.
READ MORE: Attawapiskat: After a 6-hour debate, what did MPs accomplish?
Aboriginal leaders painted a bleak picture of dire and deadly conditions on reserves at a parliamentary committee hearing later in the week. Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler urged the federal government to address tragedies playing out on the ground.
His organization, which represents northern Ontario communities, declared a public health emergency in February.
Last month, Cross Lake First Nation in northern Manitoba also declared a state of emergency after six suicides in two months. In Saskatchewan, three First Nations declared emergencies due to the high rates of suicide, addiction and mental health problems.
This is Attawapiskat’s fifth state of emergency since 2006.
* With a file from The Canadian Press
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