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Quebec provincial police say the accident that killed a man and injured a woman at Mont-Tremblant's resort village, around 105 kilometres northwest of Montreal, was caused by a drilling machine.

Sheldon Johnson, 50, was thrown out of the gondola he was in when the machine struck the lift, said the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) in a statement. Johnson, from Kingston, Ont., was riding up the mountain with Marichu Gadong-Gleyo, one of her family members told CBC News.

Gadong-Gleyo, from Ottawa, is in critical condition in hospital, according to SQ spokesperson Éric Cadotte.

Police do not know why the drilling machine was in operation or why it was under the gondola. The SQ said it is not ruling out criminal negligence.

"It was pretty bad. The gondola that was struck, there's a part of the gondola that was ripped off and the people had no chance at all, they just fell on the ground at several metres, hitting hard on the ground," said Cadotte.

"The impact was very brutal.... Why was the drilling machine there and working under gondolas on a Sunday?"

Radio-Canada sources say the drilling machine's operator, a 30-year-old, wanted to move it to save time ahead of work he had to do Monday. He then hit the two gondolas.

Forage M2P inc., released a statement Monday evening confirming that the accident involved one of its employees who was operating the drilling machine. They say he was treated for shock in hospital.

The company's president Maxime Patry offered his condolences to Johnson's family. Patry said there would be no further comments to respect the SQ's ongoing investigation as well as an investigation launched by the province's workplace safety board (CNESST.)

The SQ said it will speak to witnesses, the drilling machine's operator and workers at the resort.

with files from Lauren McCallum