Thousands remember avalanche victims

SPARWOOD, British Columbia, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Thousands of friends and family gathered in the tiny western Canadian coal-mining town of Sparwood Sunday to remember eight snowmobilers killed in avalanches.

The eight men, all raised in the town of about 4,000 people, were among 11 snowmobilers caught in two avalanches Dec. 28. The other three men survived.

"Our design is to hold on to their memory so that we might not lose the richness of having known them," David Purdy, the community's former pastor and a friend of the men, told their families. "Today we are numb. We are angry, confused. We struggle to cope with the enormity of our loss and to understand where to go from here.

"To the families of the eight men who perished in this great tragedy, my heart breaks for you."

Other friends and relatives also spoke at the memorial and statements were read on behalf of Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.