Iqaluit woman's death subject of RCMP probe

RCMP major crime investigators from Winnipeg have come to Iqaluit to probe the death of a 52-year-old woman who was in police custody earlier this month.

The woman, whose name has not been released, died in an Ottawa hospital almost a week after she fell down the front stairs of the Nova Inn in the Nunavut capital on Aug. 8.

Nunavut RCMP Supt. Howard Eaton told CBC News that the Iqaluit woman had been at the hotel's bar at the time of the incident.

"She was at a bar, she was at a licensed establishment, and when leaving she did fall down the steps, and it was the Nova Inn," Eaton said Thursday.

The woman was immediately taken by ambulance to the Qikiqtani General Hospital. But hospital staff then contacted Iqaluit RCMP, saying the woman was causing a disturbance.

The woman was then taken to the RCMP detachment cells, where Eaton said she was monitored closely.

She was later observed to be in medical distress and was brought back to the hospital, Eaton said. The woman was flown to Ottawa, where she died on Aug. 14 from her injuries.

Eaton said Iqaluit RCMP is now conducting an operational and administrative review of the incident. As well, members of an RCMP major crime unit from Winnipeg arrived in Iqaluit on Thursday.

The Winnipeg officers will be looking at all the circumstances surrounding the woman's death, including what happened at the Nova Hotel, Eaton said.

"It will form a basis of the entire investigation, yes," he said.

Eaton confirmed that an autopsy has been conducted in this case.

The operators of the bar at the Nova Inn declined to comment, saying the matter is under investigation.