MONTREAL -- Montreal police are still trying to determine how a car went into a lake off of the shores of a Montreal borough on Tuesday night, ending in the deaths of a young man and woman.
Police pulled the bodies of 22-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman out of the water near a parking lot at Lac-St-Louis in Lachine. Their deaths were confirmed in hospital
The incident happened just after 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening near the corner of 34th and St-Joseph Blvd.
A witness said they heard a noise and saw a car teetering on the edge of the water before going in.
"I quickly jumped out of my car to see what was happening and by the time I got there. the car had completely gone over, nose first. It stayed like that for a few moments," said witness Gilbert St-Onges.
He also said another witness tried to help the pair.
"A young man standing beside me dived in with the hope he might be able to keep the car doors open and get them out," said St-Onges.
The witness added that the car sunk "in 20-30 seconds at the most -- it did not stay above water that long."
Police completed their search by around 1 a.m. and say that a possible cause of the event was a "false manoeuvre."
As a place where large ships dock, water in the area is seven metres deep.
Some residents pointed out the railing has spaces in between it that are large enough for a car and too low to keep cars parked on the public parking lot from inadvertently falling into the water below.
"It seems totally foreseeable that there is an accident here. And it's shocking," said one residents.
Lachine officials say they're unaware if there have been similar incidents in the area in the past and are looking into the tragedy.
