Man pulled from water at Britannia Beach dies
A young man pulled unresponsive from the Ottawa River at Britannia Beach on Saturday afternoon has died.
Witnesses said the man was found floating near the outer buoys at the city-supervised beach at about 3 p.m. and was quickly pulled to shore to be worked on by lifeguards.
They said CPR was performed for several minutes before an ambulance arrived and paramedics took over. He was taken to Queensway Carleton Hospital but transferred to the Ottawa Heart Institute in late afternoon.
A police spokesman said Sunday afternoon the swimmer had died. More details were expected later as investigators were still trying to determine the victim’s identity.
Melissa Filadelfi, 22, and Mike Iotkov, 26, were in the water at the time. They heard a boy, estimated to be 12 years old, shouting, “I need help,” and discovered he was pulling the man toward shore. A handful of other bathers came to his aid and helped pull the man toward the beach as others shouted and waved at the lifeguard in the tower.
The man, Filadelfi said, was wearing a bathing suit and there was speculation he had come from a rocky point about 150 metres west of the beach.
The beach was immediately closed. “We have an emergency situation at the beach,” came an announcement over the loudspeakers at about 4:30 p.m. “We are asking people to stay out of the water.”
Iotkov found the scene “devastating.” He said a large crowd gathered around as lifeguards worked on the man.
Police had pulled yellow crime scene tape around a large section of beach, where an air tank, syringes and other medical equipment could be seen in the sand.
Britannia Beach has reopened, a City of Ottawa spokesperson said Sunday afternoon.