Around 2:41 p.m. on July 31, Toronto police responded to reports that a man had fallen off a boat into Lake Ontario and disappeared.
Toronto police sent their marine unit and officers from 14th division to search the area. The man, who fell into the water not far from Ontario Place and Lakeshore Boulevard, had been on a tour boat. It’s unclear how he fell overboard.
Just before 5 p.m., after being missing for two hours, the police’s marine unit found his body and pulled him from the water. Medics on site began performing lifesaving measures.
Paramedics took the man to the hospital where he later died.
According to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, a nonprofit devoted to saving lives in the Great Lakes, 65 people have drowned in the Great Lakes so far this year, 14 of them in Lake Ontario. Last year there were 101 drownings in the Great Lakes.
On average, 152 people drown in Ontario each year, 80 per cent of whom are men, says the Lifesaving Society. The majority of these deaths happen during recreational activities, such as swimming and boating.
If you are going out on a boat, the Canadian Red Cross stresses the need to carry a Canadian-approved floatation device or lifejacket at all times, wait until you are off the water before consuming alcohol, and check the weather conditions before departing.
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