Second drowning this month at Montreal’s Verdun Beach sparks calls for caution around bodies of water

A second person died at Montreal’s Verdun Beach, in less than a month after a possible drowning.

A 20-year-old man’s body was recovered Monday evening, as the city battled a heat wave.

Authorities are responding to multiple calls around the province’s waterways and officials are reminding everyone about the potential dangers as you cool off.

Montreal police (SPVM) received a 911 call at around 4 p.m. regarding a young man who went missing in the water. 

In the evening, the SPVM said that his body was recovered from the water. The man’s identity has not been released by police but they say he is believed to be around 20 years old.

This incident comes less than a week after the body of a 20-year-old man who drowned at Verdun Beach on June 7 has been recovered.

Both cases were transferred to the coroner’s office to determine the exact cause of death. 

Raynald Hawkins, executive director of Quebec’s branch of the Lifesaving Society, said that the hot weather contributes to these cases.

“When we have those kind of weather where it’s very hot, we can see the probability to have those fatalities,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins explained that it’s important to never swim alone or overestimate your skills. 

“Fifty per cent of the drowning victims were alone when the incident happened. So no one can contact 911. No one can try to reach you or no one can explain to us the true story about this situation,” he said.

“If you don’t see the swimming area on the rivers, that means you have to use that for boating activities and wear your lifejacket or your personal floatation device (PFD). Doesn’t matter if you’re a weak or a good swimmer, 35 per cent of the drowning situations occur in the river in Quebec and we know we have currents.”

Montrealer Romy Alfaro emphasized the importance of being vigilant.

“We have to be careful and when we’re not careful, things like that happen,” she said. “I feel safe. I think people go outside the line, so that’s where the problem is.”

Frequent beachgoer François Bolduc witnessed the scene on Monday. 

“We were here, everyone was over there and curious. He was down there where the rocks are, beyond the buoys,” Bolduc said.

Because of the recent drownings, Montrealer Michael Porter said he’ll be a lot more cautious when swimming.

“When I was here last year, I was like, ‘Oh, no problem, I could swim that.’ But after hearing about these deaths, definitely reconsidering it,” he said. “I would not even try it.”

Porter said it would be best to add even more signage around the beach.

On Wednesday afternoon while CityNews was on-site, city officials installed signs by the beach, showing the dangers of the currents.

Dean Sharma, visiting Montreal from Toronto, said that the recent drownings evokes the significance of being safe and educated.

“I think it’s an issue that extends far beyond Montreal, all over Canada. We have so many natural waterways and it really highlights the importance of swim safety and education for the youth,” Sharma said.

A police operation was underway Tuesday evening at Cap-Saint-Jacques beach in the city’s Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough after a person was reported missing and in distress in the water. On Wednesday, the SPVM’s aquatic team conducted another search.

By late afternoon Wednesday, police said the report was likely unfounded, but that teams continued their search as someone in the area was seen in difficulty. 

Jim Beis, Borough Mayor of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, said that Montrealers should be more cautious of their surroundings.

“You don’t know what happened. You look at the Island of Montreal being surrounded by water with waterfront properties everywhere,” he said. “Folks need to be really aware of their surroundings and the environment and not have any accidents, if that’s what it was, occur,” he said.

Another drowning was also suspected Tuesday afternoon in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, southwest of Montreal. A man in his 40s drowned while paddle boarding and reportedly wasn’t wearing a lifejacket.

“When you’re using a paddle board, you have the obligation to bring the lifejacket with you but you don’t have any obligation to wear it,” Raynald said. “And that’s why one of the recommendations we have to the Minister of Transport is change your regulations because people don’t want to wear it because they don’t think they’re going to need that.”

Transport Canada tells CityNews in a statement that “wearing a lifejacket is the best measure against drowning or for surviving cold-water shock and hypothermia while boating.”

A spokesperson for Transport Canada says they are currently engaged in consultations regarding options around the mandatory wear of PFDs/lifejackets and has recently received preliminary feedback from safety organizations and enforcement partners.”

“Following analysis of this feedback, Transport Canada plans to put these options forward for review and comment from the general public through its Let’s Talk Transportation website,” the statement continued.

So far this year, there have been at least 25 drownings in Quebec, which could be even higher due to recent cases. At this time last year, there were 24.

“We’re going on the direction where we’re going to have more drownings, particularly during the July month,” Raynald said.