© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The Rio Tinto logo is displayed above the global mining group’s booth at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) annual conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada March 7, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo

By Nia Williams

(Reuters) – Six people were killed after a small plane carrying Rio Tinto (NYSE:) workers crashed near Fort Smith in Canada’s remote Northwest Territories (NWT), the NWT Coroner Service said on Wednesday.

Four passengers and two North Western Air Lease (NYSE:) crew members died in the crash, Chief Coroner Garth Eggenberger said in a statement, adding the plane had been travelling from Fort Smith en route to the Diavik Diamond Mine.

There was one survivor who was treated at the Fort Smith Health Centre before being taken to hospital in the provincial capital Yellowknife.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said in a statement on Tuesday night that the company was devastated by the crash.