Man Dead in Snowmobile Crash East of Plaster Rock, N.B.

West District RCMP say alcohol was likely a factor in a snowmobile crash near Kennedy Lakes on Saturday night that claimed the life of a 46-year-old man.

The RCMP received a call shortly after 8 p.m. of a snowmobile crash about 40 kilometres into the Sentier NB Trail system off the Renous Highway between Plaster Rock and Miramichi.

The man, from Lyttleton, New Brunswick, had been with a group of snowmobilers on the trail when he became separated from the group and struck a tree. He was the only person on the snowmobile at the time of the collision, according to Sgt. J.P. MacDougall.

Members of the West District RCMP attended the scene along with representatives from New Brunswick Public Safety Motor Vehicle Safety Enforcement Section, and a Royal Canadian Air Force Search and Rescue Squadron Cormorant helicopter based in Greenwood, N.S., coordinated by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax. The RCMP also received assistance from the Blackville Fire Department and Coroner Services.

The investigation is continuing. An autopsy is scheduled to determine the exact cause of death.