Canadian police have launched a huge manhunt for two men suspected of stabbing at least 10 people to death in a rampage that has shocked the nation.
Two suspects named as Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson are on the run and considered armed and dangerous.
Victims were found in 13 locations in the remote indigenous community James Smith Cree Nation and nearby Weldon.
It is of the deadliest acts of mass violence Canada has seen. PM Justin Trudeau said it was “heartbreaking”.
At least 15 others were injured in the killing spree, with police urging residents to be extremely vigilant as they conduct a search across one of Canada’s largest and most remote regions.
“I am shocked and devastated by the horrific attacks today,” Mr Trudeau said in a statement. “Those responsible for today’s abhorrent attacks must be fully brought to justice.”
As news of the stabbings broke, a dangerous person alert was sent to all mobile phones across the provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta – an enormous region almost half the size of Europe.
A state of emergency was declared in the James Smith Cree Nation – a community of about 2,000 residents north-east of the village of Weldon, which is home to just 200 people.
“Do not leave a secure location. Use caution allowing others into your residence,” Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) warned people across the area.
Numerous checkpoints have been set up and drivers have been urged not to pick up hitchhikers.
Rhonda Blackmore, Commanding Officer for Saskatchewan RCMP said that some people may have been targeted, while others are believed to have been “attacked randomly”.
The suspects were last seen by members of the public in Regina at about lunchtime on Sunday, and may be travelling in a black Nissan Rogue, Officer Blackmore said.
The relationship between Damien Sanderson, 31, and Myles Sanderson, 30, is unclear, and the authorities have so far provided no further details.
At a news briefing on Sunday evening, police said there could be more injured people than the 15 they already knew about, who had taken themselves to hospital.
Police refused to speculate on the motive behind the attack, but Chief Bobby Cameron of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations suggested that they could be drug related.
“This is the destruction we face when harmful illegal drugs invade our communities, and we demand all authorities to take direction from the Chiefs and Councils and their membership to create safer and healthier communities for our people,” Mr Cameron said.
