The body of a motorcycle driver was pulled from waters off the Champlain Bridge Saturday night.
The Coast Guard, as well as firefighters from Montreal and Longueuil, spent the evening searching the St. Lawrence River for the man, who police say crashed into a concrete barrier at 9:40 p.m. as he made his way back to Montreal over the bridge and was projected over the side.
The motorcycle was found on the bridge, but not the driver.
“Our helicopter was immediately called, but quickly cancelled because firefighters were on the St. Lawrence and unfortunately found the body of a dead man,” said Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Audrey-Anne-Bilodeau.
The man’s body was discovered in the water by La Prairie firefighters just after 11 p.m.
The man was identified as Andrew Awwad, 25, from Pierrefonds. His brother spoke briefly with CTV News, saying only that the family was in shock and is grieving together.
Police believe speeding may have been a factor; no other vehicles were involved in the crash.
“You are more vulnerable when you are riding a motorcycle. You can be more vulnerable,” said Bilodeau.
Accident reconstructionists are currently trying to determine what happened, but police are confident it was not intentional.
