Two young men died in the river at Gibson Falls in Elgin, N.B., according to the New Brunswick RCMP.
On Monday at 3:30 p.m., first responders, including the Elgin, Petitcodiac and Sussex fire departments as well as Ambulance New Brunswick, responded to a report about two men in medical distress in the river.
A 21-year-old man died at the scene after first responders attempted life-saving measures.
A 24-year-old man’s body was recovered from the river on Tuesday morning.
They were both citizens of India, according to a written statement issued by the NB RCMP.
Lifelong Elgin resident Jason Humphrey, who lives near the falls, said he was startled by the sound of sirens on Monday afternoon.
“We don’t need stuff like this, it’s hard on the Elgin community,” Humphrey said.
“I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say.”
Elgin Volunteer Fire Department Chief Kent Steeves told Global News the popular swimming spot attracts lots of people from out of town each summer.
He said visitors often jump off the cliffs to get into the water basin.
“It’s hard to get down in there. You pretty well have to jump is the easiest way and it’s hard to get down and hard to get up,” he said.
It’s not known whether the two men who died had jumped into the water.
Steeves said his department gets at least one call a year related to people needing help at Gibson Falls.
They’ve already been called a few times this year.
“Every time that we get called out in the middle of the daytime is always a strain because many of the people reporting to us work out of town,” he said.
“So we’re left with a short staff and we have to use mutual aid partners to work on these calls.”
He said anyone who goes swimming at Gibson Falls, which is located on private property, is going at their own risk.
“One slip one way or the other can certainly cause them to be in some kind of trouble,” he said.
Humphrey urges anyone who wants to go swimming there to be cautious and not take any unnecessary risks.
“When it gets unsafe, tragedy happens, whether they get badly injured or they pass away because they couldn’t do what they wanted to do.”
The New Brunswick coroner’s office is assisting with the investigation, as autopsies are scheduled to determine the exact cause of death for both men, according to the New Brunswick RCMP.
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