WATERLOO, QUE. -- Provincial police say they have found the body of a 20-year-old man who disappeared in Lac Waterloo after a paddleboat accident, east of Montreal.

Sgt. Stephane Tremblay says divers recovered the body today, more than 24 hours after he vanished early Saturday morning.

Police say the victim, who didn't know how to swim and wasn't wearing a life-jacket, was alone on the boat, which began to take on water around 5 a.m.

A witness on a nearby dock attempted to swim to the man to help him in vain before returning to shore to call 911.

Police and firefighters searched the waters and along the shoreline Saturday in the area, about 90 kilometres east of Montreal.

The province has reported an notable increase in the number of drownings this year, according to numbers compiled by the Lifesaving Society's Quebec branch.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2020.