A body was recovered Monday morning, in the St. Lawrence River, near Promenade-Bellerive Park, in Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. It could well be the swimmer who drowned and was missing since last Friday.
Posted at 2:47 p.m.
The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) confirms having received a call at 11 a.m. on Monday in connection with “a body floating in the river, near the Port of Montreal and Pie-IX Boulevard”.
Coast Guard officers and Montreal firefighters finally went to recover the body, identified shortly after in the Promenade-Bellerive park area, said police spokesperson, officer Véronique Comtois. .
At the same time, she confirmed that the death was observed directly on the spot, and that the file was transferred to the coroner for the continuation of the investigation.
The body recovered could well be that of the man who swam in the St. Lawrence River in the Old Port of Montreal area last Friday and who drowned. He had been missing since Friday afternoon and intensive searches had been carried out to find him.
According to the first information that had been collected from witnesses in this case, the elderly man in his thirties was swimming alone in the waters of the river before he drifted and called for help. He did not appear to be wearing a flotation device.
The area where the tragedy occurred is particularly popular with people who go windsurfing on the river. Witnesses reportedly saw the man being swept away by the current, waving for help. He would have sunk under water.
Witnesses reportedly saw the man’s body drifting, but he was too far from shore to jump into the water and try to help him.
Several police forces, including the SPVM nautical squad, the Longueuil police and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), had participated in the searches to identify the body in recent days. The Sûreté du Québec had also deployed a helicopter.
With The Canadian Press