Montreal police have confirmed that the body of a man was pulled from the waters of the Rivière des Prairies Sunday afternoon in northwestern Montreal.
Montreal police spokesperson Julien Lévesque said the body was recovered near île Bizard after a 911 call from a resident who spotted the body just after 5:30 p.m.
Montreal police could not confirm whether the body is that of a 51-year-old man who went missing after he was swept away by the current at Cap-Saint-Jacques Nature Park on Saturday.
The incident happened at around 2:30 p.m., when emergency services received a 911 call 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.
The Canadian Coast Guard, the Montreal fire department, Urgences Santé and Montreal police carried out searches throughout the weekend to locate the victim.
Lévesque said the search was called off Sunday evening.
The Quebec coroner’s office has been tasked with identifying the remains.
— With files from Global’s Alessia Maratta and The Canadian Press