The chief of a First Nation in B-C says the discovery of the remains of 215 children on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops is — quote — “an unthinkable loss that was spoken about but never documented.”

Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation says the remains were confirmed last weekend with the help of a ground-penetrating radar specialist.

She says the children, some as young as three, were students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, once the largest in Canada’s residential school system.

A local museum archivist is working with the Royal British Columbia Museum to see if any records of the deaths can be found.