The body of a 23-year-old man who went missing Friday evening in the St. Lawrence River near LaSalle Blvd. was discovered Saturday morning.
The man jumped off a dock into the water with one of his friends despite advice to ‘swim at your own risk.' He never surfaced, while his friend was able to get back to Parc du Quai-de-la-Tortue.
The water level is high and the current is strong in that area of Verdun. And the area has clear signs that state it is a high-risk area to swim.
The man’s body was taken out of the water around 8 a.m. Saturday.
The circumstances surrounding his death are so far unclear, but the man was reportedly not a strong swimmer. An autopsy will be performed.
Raynald Hawkins of the Quebec Lifesaving Society is urging people to be safe around water.
"If you're not a good swimmer or a weak swimmer, please wear your life jacket if you want to use the open waters," he said. "Sometimes at the surface, the water is very calm but under the surface we have some currents, we have some vortices."
So far this year there have been about 10 drownings.
Over the past 20 years, the annual average number of drownings in Quebec has dropped, however, from about 200 to about 70. About 85 per cent of Quebecers who drown are male.
