(Montreal) The 21-year-old young man who went missing after swimming in the Etchemin River, in Saint-Anselme in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, is a Ukrainian refugee who arrived in the country less than two weeks ago. The possibility that he drowned shakes the small community.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) was notified in the middle of the night from Wednesday to Thursday by “the relatives of the victim [qui] worried that he wouldn’t be back,” Sergeant Hugues Beaulieu said Wednesday.
The man had gone swimming in the Etchemin River, in an area downstream from Rouillard Falls. “He’s a man who used to do it,” says Mr. Beaulieu.
” [Dans la nuit de mercredi à jeudi] there were police officers on foot who made the banks with the assistance of the fire department of the place. And [jeudi] morning, the divers as well as the helicopter of the Sûreté du Québec moved to the scene”, explained the sergeant.
The search was put on hold around 3:30 p.m. “due to the strong current which put the safety of the divers at risk”, indicated the SQ. They should resume this Friday morning.
Arrived July 8
He is the eldest child of a family from Ukraine who arrived in Saint-Anselme in waves in recent months, says immigration officer Laura Torres of the Alpha Bellechasse organization, which helps newcomers settle in the region.
The young man’s mother, who works at the Exceldor chicken processing plant in Saint-Anselme, arrived last September with her youngest child. Then she had brought her teenager in April, and finally her eldest son had arrived on July 8, 12 days before he was reported missing.
“He didn’t know what he wanted to do yet,” says Laura Torres, who helped the mother contact the authorities and was involved in the early stages of the search.
“It’s a difficult situation for the family and also for the employees of our [Saint-Anselme]who form a big family,” said the head of public relations at Exceldor, Denis Paquet.
The company, which employs about fifteen Ukrainian workers in this factory, affirms that it is already accompanying the mother and her relatives. We “bring them all the support and all the help they need, now and for the future,” added Mr. Paquet.
The search is certainly complicated by the strong flow of the river, swollen by the heavy rains of the last few weeks and whose level “is unheard of”, according to the deputy mayor of Saint-Anselme, Simon Roy.
Shaken by this possible drowning, the municipality wanted to remind its residents Thursday that there is within the limits of Saint-Anselme “no safe site allowing swimming”.
“The locals are really aware of the dangers of this area,” says Simon Roy. We are talking in some places about 150 feet deep. »
The young man was on his third swim in the area, where he would have gone using a wooden ladder accessible from the Bellechasse cycle route, but it would be the first time he had gone there alone and in the evening.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY GUILLAUME FORTIN
The area where the young Ukrainian refugee would have sunk in the night from Wednesday to Thursday is accessible by a ladder that can be taken from the Bellechasse cycle route.
The place has a sign indicating that it is forbidden to swim there, but there is no surveillance, specifies the acting mayor.
Overrepresented
Saint-Anselme regularly welcomes immigrants, to the point that the municipality has residents of 27 different nationalities for a population of 4,300 inhabitants, according to Simon Roy. While there are mainly people from Latin America, more and more Ukrainians fleeing the war are coming to settle there, he adds.
This sad event therefore takes on a particular meaning.
The fact that refugees come here to have peace and peace of mind and that a tragedy like this happens, barely 12 days after he set foot here, it’s really sad.
Simon Roy, deputy mayor of Saint-Anselme
Recent immigrants to Canada are overrepresented in drowning cases, concluded an analysis of dozens of coroner’s reports by The Press and published Thursday morning.
As of July 20, 2023, the Lifesaving Society had recorded 44 drownings for the current year, while on this date last year, there were 32. These data are unofficial, that is to say, they are compiled from press articles. They will be validated with the Coroner’s Office.
With The Canadian Press