Grief counsellors are spending the day at a primary school in Saint-Eustache, Que., where a 12-year old boy died after a recess squabble with another student.

Yannick Charpentier died in hospital Monday afternoon after an 11-year-old girl punched him in the chest during an argument outside the Horizon-Soleil elementary school. 

Frédéric Forgues greets his sons, Olivier, left, Nathan, centre, and Simon, all students at a Quebec school where a 12-year-old boy died after a recess fight on Monday.
(Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)

The Grade 6 student had a pre-existing heart condition but doctors said it's impossible to say why he died until an autopsy is completed.

Students at the school weren't told of the boy's death until the end of the school day, and some parents were angry they weren't told sooner about the tragedy.

Karine Champagne, a journalist for French-language television network LCN, said parents never received a proper explanation of what happened in the schoolyard, despite receiving a note administrators sent home with students.

"We have that note, but it doesn't say in any way there had been a fight," said Champagne, whose three sons attend the school. "It's just written that something bad happened at the school, and kids could be shaken, and tonight we should talk to them about violence."

In the letter, school principal Christiane Rainville said the community is rallying around the boy's family. "The school is deeply distressed by this dramatic situation," she said.

"In the coming days, some children could react in ways normal in such a situation, such as having fear, denial, anger, sadness or difficulty sleeping."

The school board has assigned a team of grief counsellors and a nurse, who will stay at the school and be available to talk to students as long as needed, Rainville indicated in the letter.

Many parents said they were at a loss about how to talk to their children about the tragedy.

Charpentier's death will likely traumatize children at the school, and while it's important for parents to talk to their children about violence, it's also crucial for them to continue with their daily lives.

"Kids need routine, and the best thing you can do is get them back into a routine," said Montreal bereavement counsellor Corrie Sirota-Frankel. "Because this is not a normal situation."

Provincial police said the girl will not be charged because there is no way she could have known the fight would end with Charpentier's death.

But she's been taken into custody by youth protection officials until the investigation progresses.

The school board and police insist it was an isolated incident, at a school with no prior record of violence between students.

With files from the Canadian Press