A 51-year-old man is still missing after being swept away by the current at the Cap-Saint-Jacques Nature Park in Montreal’s West Island on Saturday.
Emergency services received a 911 call on Saturday around 2:35 p.m. reporting a man in distress in the water near Montreal’s Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough.
According to Urgences-santé, the man drowned in the water in front of his family. Two children related to the victim were brought to hospital to be treated for shock after witnessing the event.
Cap-Saint-Jacques Nature Park’s beach has lifeguards and a cordoned-off swimming area, but according to officials, the man drowned in a quieter area with no lifeguards around.
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Montreal police spokesperson Const. Julien Lévesque said the search continued until nightfall on Saturday and resumed early Sunday morning.
Lévesque said the Canadian Coast Guard, the Montreal Fire Department, Urgences-santé and the Montreal police’s nautical team were dispatched to the scene to try and find the man who was carried away by the current.
According to the Lifesaving Society, rivers often have invisible currents underneath the surface that can easily pull inexperienced swimmers under.
Police say the circumstances around how the man ended up in the water are still unclear.
–With files from The Canadian Press