MONTREAL -- Quebec provincial police (SQ) divers are assisting Montreal police (SPVM) Sunday to locate a 27-year-old man who fell into the Saint Lawrence River Saturday night and has not been found.
SPVM spokesperson Caroline Chevrefils said a 911 call at 7 p.m. reported that a man fell from a boat into the river when he was with another man and woman and the boat drifted into the Lachine rapids near the Verdun borough.
"There was a 911 call that was made about a man who fell in the water," she said. "When emergency services on the scene, they couldn't find him."
The search was halted as night fell, and restarted Sunday with the SQ's assistance.
"When the man fell in the river, the other man in the boat jumped into the water and tried to rescue him, but he was not able to do it," said Chevrefils.
The 29-year-old man was rescued and brought to the hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, and the woman remained in the boat and did not require medical attention.
Day three of the search began Monday. The missing man's wife told the Journal de Montreal there were life jackets on board, but they were not wearing them.
Raynald Hawkins, executive director of the Quebec branch of the Lifesaving Society, said life jackets could have made a difference in an incident like this one and called for stricter safety laws for boating.
"They don't see the potential to have those incidents so that's why I make the comparison with the car seatbelts. You put that [on] not because you're going to have an accident, it's in case you have one you know that can save your life," he said.
There have been 34 drownings in Quebec this year.
The law currently states that there must be enough life jackets for all passengers on board, but it doesn't require them to wear them.
With files from CTV Montreal's Ian Wood
