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Human remains found last week in Quebec’s Gaspé region might be those of Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine who died in an 1847 shipwreck, Parks Canada said Wednesday.

Archaeologists found bones and skeletons of at least eight individuals – likely five adults and three children – near Cap-des-Rosiers, Que. in late July.

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Parks Canada archaeologist Martin Perron said that although the remains need to be analyzed before drawing conclusions, all available evidence suggests they belong to victims from the Carricks of Whitehaven, an Irish ship that sank during a storm off the Gaspé coast while on its way to Quebec City almost 170 years ago.

Perron said the bones appear to be quite ancient, and were likely hurriedly and haphazardly placed together in a shallow trench.

The July discovery follows another one nearby in 2011, later determined to have been the remains of three European children who were also likely aboard the ship, he said.