A two-year-old child has died after being pulled from the Ottawa River Friday evening.
Ottawa police were called to an area near the Kichi Zībī Mīkan parkway just before 7 p.m. after getting reports a child was missing in the water.
Police said when officers arrived, the child couldn’t be found. They started a co-ordinated search, one that included marine dive team members and tactical officers, along with help from the Gatineau Police Service.
The child was spotted about 40 minutes later in the river by the Ottawa police’s air support unit and pulled from the water.
First responders began resuscitation efforts, police said, before taking the child to the hospital.
They were later pronounced dead.
“Our hearts are with the child’s family, loved ones, witnesses, and all those affected by this heartbreaking incident,” Ottawa police wrote in a release.
The child was in the water, with a family member nearby, when they were carried off by the current, said Insp. Brian Samuel on Saturday.
Samuel said water levels on the Ottawa River remain high, and despite appearances, it’s fast and dangerous.
“Sadly, this is the time of year when we see drownings because … on the surface the water looks calm, and [people] might wade into the water,” he said.
“But the current, it sweeps people away.”
The homicide unit and the sexual assault and child abuse unit are currently investigating, as is standard practice in incidents involving the death of a young child.
Samuel said that as of Saturday, signs pointed to the toddler’s death being a “tragic accident.”
