Two-year-old girl dies after being struck by mini-excavator in Quebec

A two-year-old girl died Saturday evening after being struck by a mini-excavator on private land in Irlande, a municipality located near Thetford Mines in Quebec’s Chaudière-Appalaches region. Emergency services responded to the incident at approximately 8:15 p.m. near Route 165, but were unable to revive the child. Her death was declared at the scene.

The driver of the mini-excavator, a man in his 20s, was interviewed by police officers and subsequently released with a promise to appear in court. An investigation has been launched by the Sûreté du Québec’s (SQ) major crimes division, supported by an SQ collision investigator, to determine the causes and circumstances of the event. According to SQ spokesperson Audrey-Anne Bilodeau, the involvement of the major crimes division is standard procedure under the provincial Coroners Act in cases involving the death of a child. The driver could face charges related to the operation of the mini-excavator, though specific charges have not been announced.

The fatal incident in Irlande occurred during a weekend that saw multiple deadly accidents across Quebec. On Saturday morning, a man in his 40s from Gatineau was killed in a two-vehicle collision on Route 317 in Ripon, located in the Outaouais region. The SQ is investigating the circumstances, with spokesperson Frédéric Deshaies indicating that speed and reckless driving may have contributed to the collision.

In a separate Saturday afternoon incident, a woman in her 80s died after the SUV in which she was a passenger collided with a van in St-Alban, in the Capitale-Nationale region. The collision took place shortly before 2:30 p.m. at the junction of Route 354 and Rang de l’Église. According to the SQ, the SUV, which was travelling along Rang de l’Église, either failed to stop at the stop sign or proceeded without yielding to the van, which was travelling along Route 354 and was not required to stop. Four occupants of the SUV were injured; the victim, who was seated in the rear, died en route to hospital. Another passenger, a woman in her 70s, remained in critical condition as of Sunday. The driver and front-seat passenger of the SUV sustained non-life-threatening injuries, while the driver and passenger in the van were not injured. An SQ accident reconstruction specialist was present at the scene as part of the investigation.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. the same day, emergency services responded to a collision between a motorcycle and another vehicle on Route 132 in St-André-de-Restigouche, in the Gaspé region. The motorcycle’s driver, a man in his 40s, and his passenger, a woman in her 50s, both from Rimouski, were declared dead in hospital. According to SQ spokesperson Deshaies, the investigation remains in its early stages and it is too soon to determine the specific causes and circumstances of the incident.

Shortly before 4 p.m. on Saturday, two women died in a head-on collision between a camper and a car on Route 116 in Laurierville, located in Centre-du-Québec. The vehicles, which were travelling in opposite directions, collided when one left its lane for reasons that have not yet been determined. Two passengers in the car, a woman in her 50s and another in her 70s, were transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries, and their deaths were confirmed by the SQ on Sunday morning. The driver of the car and the driver of the camper sustained minor injuries. The investigation is ongoing, and Route 116 was closed to traffic until approximately 11 p.m. Saturday.

The series of fatal incidents over the weekend has drawn attention to road safety and the circumstances under which heavy equipment is operated on private property, especially in proximity to children. The SQ’s procedures require extensive investigation whenever a child’s death is involved, in accordance with the Coroners Act, to ensure all contributing factors are examined and to determine whether criminal or regulatory charges are warranted.

The investigation into the death of the two-year-old in Irlande will consider factors such as the operation of the mini-excavator, site safety conditions, and supervision at the time of the incident. The outcome may have implications for safety practices on private land and could influence regulatory approaches to the use of heavy machinery where children are present. The incident forms part of a broader pattern of accidental deaths in Quebec over the weekend, highlighting the range of circumstances—from private land to public roads—under which fatalities can occur.

Each of the weekend’s incidents is being investigated by the SQ, with specialized teams such as accident reconstruction specialists and major crimes divisions involved where appropriate. The investigations aim to clarify the sequences of events and inform potential legal proceedings, as well as broader discussions about public safety and accident prevention.