 |
|
 AN OTTAWA teenager drowned yesterday after apparently tumbling off a crowded inflatable raft into a man-made lake at a campground east of the capital. The incident at the Kittawa Campground near Limoges was one of two fatal drownings in the region yesterday. A 77-year-old Cornwall man also drowned in the St. Lawrence River along the Long Sault Parkway in South Stormont Township. Witnesses in the campground incident said the 17-year-old victim, who witnesses knew only as "Jenny," had been playing on the large black rubber raft with about 30 other young people at about 2 p.m. when she was noticed missing by a family friend. Campers first realized something was wrong when a staffer using a loudspeaker ordered everyone out of the water. "He came along in a cart with the high speakers and told all the kids on the raft to get down immediately," said camper Robert Lepage, 72. Still unable to locate the missing girl, searchers formed a human chain and dove under the water for about five minutes before the teen was found about 10 feet from the raft in water about eight feet deep. "Finally we heard one of the guys say, 'we've seen her, we've seen her,' " said Lepage. Some of the more than 100 anxious observers on shore gasped and cried as they watched rescuers try to resuscitate the girl after pulling her lifeless body onto the beach. "One of the guys touched her and we got her out as soon as we could," said a 42-year-old man who participated in the rescue. He and other campers started CPR on the girl after pulling her out of the water, said the man, who asked not to be identified. "We were just trying to get her back. She was under water for quite a while." The girl might have been epileptic, and it was feared she had suffered a seizure while playing on the raft, he added. Although firefighters and an ambulance arrived quickly, the girl was pronounced dead after being airlifted by helicopter to CHEO. Campers said the girl had been staying at the camp over the weekend with her boyfriend, his mother and several of his brothers. The victim's name was not being released by police last night. The large, sturdy raft -- about 30 feet long by about six feet wide with curved ends anchored to the bottom of the lake -- was military grade and designed to be part of the support for a pontoon bridge. Campers said the raft had only been set up on Saturday and was extremely popular with the young swimmers, who liked to crowd onto it and use it like a trampoline. Campground manager Guy Moreau said it was the first major accident on the beach or the man-made lake in the 13 years that they have been part of the campground. Moreau said he has no plans to hire lifeguards for the unsupervised beach or to remove the raft, which was installed to replace a wooden dock that was removed last year. The large campground has more than 300 seasonal campers and several dozen spots for weekend campers. In Long Sault, meanwhile, police said a Cornwall senior was swimming alone in the water when he disappeared from sight at around 2:15 p.m. A rescue boat and private boaters began an hour-long search of the area and found the swimmer dead just off MacDonald Island. Police have not released the man's name at the request of his family. Lifesaving Resources Inc. - www.lifesaving.com - (603) 827-4139 |
|