Montreal

Snowmobile accident kills 4-year-old boy in Saint-Léon-le-Grand, Que.

A four-year-old boy was killed Saturday when he was thrown from a snowmobile during a family outing Saturday in Quebec's Lower St-Lawrence region.

Death brings total snowmobile-related fatalities to 28 so far this season

Quebec snowmobile fatalities are at their highest in at least seven years. (Stock photo)

A four-year-old boy was killed Saturday when he was thrown from a snowmobile on a family outing Saturday in Quebec's Lower St-Lawrence region.

Quebec provincial police say the accident happened in Saint-Léon-le-Grand.

No one on the snowmobile was wearing a helmet, a police spokesman said.

The death brings the total number of snowmobile-related fatalities to 28 so far this season, almost double the amount recorded last year.

Last weekend alone, there was three deaths involving a snowmobile, which included that of a nine-year-old boy.

Sgt. Claude Denis of the Sûreté du Québec said many of this year's accidents are due to loss of control, as well as inexperience driving a snowmobile and venturing out onto lakes and rivers.