OTTAWA, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Canada's Northwest Territories Coroner's Service has confirmed fatalities from a passenger plane that crashed early Tuesday in northern Canada, the Canadian Press reported.
The plane lost contact shortly after taking off in the morning near Fort Smith, a town about 740 km south of Yellowknife, the capital city of the Northwest Territories.
The provincial coroner's service did not mention how many people were killed, but said that it must first notify next of kin. No details were provided on how many people were aboard.
The hospital in Fort Smith, located near the Alberta boundary, activated its mass casualty protocol. The Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority did not provide other details, citing patient confidentiality, the report said.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said the plane belongs to Northwestern Air Lease and the airline's website said it has two of those planes in its fleet that can carry 19 passengers, said the report, adding that a representative for the company confirmed it was a charter flight.
Rio Tinto, a multinational mining corporation, confirmed Tuesday night that the plane was on its way to the Diavik diamond mine at the time of the crash, carrying Diavik workers.
"We have been informed by authorities that a plane on its way to our Diavik mine, carrying a number of our people, crashed near Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada, resulting in fatalities," Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said in a statement. "We are working closely with authorities and will help in any way we can with their efforts to find out exactly what has happened."
The safety board was sending investigators to the scene, it said. ■