The seek for an 18-year-old man who fell by the ice on the Rivière des Prairies has been suspended after three days of intensive efforts by Montreal police and rescue groups.
Authorities say they had been unable to find the lacking teen regardless of deploying a variety of sources, together with boats, underwater cameras, drones and police divers.
“We resumed the searches — yesterday we tried with the divers and all the things — however we weren’t in a position to find that gentleman,” mentioned SPVM media relations officer Jean-Pierre Brabant. “For now, they’re suspended, however we’ll perhaps recall the searches over the course of the week — that’s going to be evaluated.”
Three-day search yields no outcomes
The younger man has been lacking since Thursday, March 26, when he and one other teenager fell by what seemed to be frozen sections of the river close to Île-Bizard.
A 17-year-old was rescued and transported to hospital in steady situation, however the older teen didn’t resurface.
The search entered its third day Saturday, with crews returning to the water early within the morning. Authorities shifted their focus to a close-by bay after figuring out that robust currents made the preliminary space too harmful for divers and should have carried the sufferer away.
“We used each software that we had,” Brabant mentioned. “We had boats, we had cameras beneath, we had a drone that was used, and the final resort was these divers that had been attempting to look within the bay the place we would assume he ended up, however we didn’t discover something.”
Tough and harmful circumstances
The operation was described as advanced and dangerous, with thinning ice and chilly water posing vital dangers to rescue crews.
Earlier, police mentioned divers couldn’t safely enter sure elements of the river because of robust currents, prompting a reassessment of the search space.
Regardless of the challenges, crews labored repeatedly over three days in an effort to find the teenager and supply solutions to his household.
Household and neighborhood collect at scene
The teenager’s household remained current all through the search, receiving updates from police because the operation unfolded. Dozens of kinfolk and neighborhood members additionally gathered close to the river.
“I used to be there yesterday, the household was devastated, there have been about 25 to 30 individuals who introduced themselves on the sector, they had been attempting to see if we may find him, they had been ready for a physique to come back out, it was very unhappy,” Brabant mentioned.
Each teenagers are college students at Cégep Gérald-Godin, which has mentioned assist measures are in place for college kids and workers affected by the incident.
Search could resume later this week
Police say the operation may resume within the coming days as officers consider subsequent steps, together with the potential for increasing the search space alongside the river’s jap shoreline.
Within the meantime, authorities proceed to warn the general public to remain off the ice, noting that late-season circumstances make waterways harmful because of melting surfaces and unpredictable currents.