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The Canadian Press
The Innu community of Sheshatshiu in Labrador has declared a suicide crisis following 10 suicide attempts in less than a week.
In a statement issued Tuesday night, Chief Eugene Hart says the rash of attempts followed the death of a young woman over the weekend.
He did not say how the young woman died, but media reports indicate the body of a 20-year-old woman was recovered from a nearby lake on Saturday.
Hart said the community of roughly 1,300 people located about 45 km northeast of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, has also been struggling with more than a dozen other deaths in recent months, all of them from natural causes.
He said the deaths have taken a particular toll on the young people in the community and there are not enough supports in place to address the grief.
As of Tuesday, the chief said he had reached out for support from the premier’s office, the RCMP and other organizations, and short-term support programming will be set up at three locations.
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