A four-year-old child is missing after falling into the Saint-Maurice River in Mauricie on Sunday evening.
Police officers from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) were called to the municipality of Grandes-Piles around 6 p.m.
In this area, where there are mainly chalets, two children fell into the water while playing, said Stéphane Tremblay, spokesman for the SQ. “One managed to get out [de l’eau]and a lack of action,” he said.
The police and fire brigade carried out a major search operation on the water and on the bank in the evening.
An SQ helicopter was en route to the scene and trained search patrol officers were deployed to the incident.
Some citizens also tried to locate the boy using boats.
Among them is Martin Laquerre, who owns a chalet a few steps away. “I went with my neighbor to shine a big flashlight. We sailed around the divers and saw nothing. I just wanted to do well,” he said in an interview with the Journal.
According to him, it is possible that the child fell from the chalet compound, which is located on a cliff in a place where the river is particularly deep.
“If it fell where I saw the divers, the water is about 22 meters deep. In the dark, visibility in the water is practically zero,” said Mr. Laquerre.