Family remembering two ‘great’ young men who drowned in Lake of the Woods

The two men who drowned in Lake of the Woods on Thursday are being remembered for the “kind” people they were.

Darshan Kaila said he’s the uncle of 20-year-old drowning victim Pawan Preet Brar from Winnipeg.

“It’s is horrible,” he said. “It’s a big hit on the family. It’s not easy to take it.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's is horrible," he said. "It's a big hit on the family. It's not easy to take it."

Ontario Provincial Police in Kenora said they were called around 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 5 to McLeod Park after receiving a complaint about two swimmers in distress.

The bodies of Pawan Preet Brar and Arwinder Brar, 19, were found on Friday.

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Kaila said one of the boys was trying to rescue the other.

“They were standing by the edge of the shore and one lost his balance and the other tried to save him,” he said.

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“They don’t know how to swim, so that’s what happened. They had other people around, but it took seconds because of the fast current. It took them away.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They don't know how to swim, so that's what happened. They had other people around, but it took seconds because of the fast current. It took them away."

The young men worked for him at a hotel he owns in Winnipeg.

“Both of them were really great. They weren’t into drugs and alcohol, they were really willing to help others and very, very fine young men,” he said.

A GoFundMe account has been started to raise money for Arwinder’s funeral costs. A separate GoFundMe page has also been set up in honour of Pawan Preet.

The Ontario Provincial Police are still investigating.