Divers to resume search for 2 men
Two Chinese exchange students presumed drowned
By Brendan Kennedy, The Ottawa CitizenMay 26, 2009
Divers from the Ottawa Police Marine Unit will resume their search in the Ottawa River today for the bodies of two Chinese exchange students presumed drowned after their inflatable dinghy capsized Saturday evening in the frigid and fast-moving water.
Police are working with the Chinese Embassy to notify the families of the two men, in their 20s, whose names have not yet been released.
The licence plate on a 1999 white Audi, which police said belonged to one of the men, is registered to Fanzheng Meng.
Media reports said Meng studied computers at Algonquin College, but neither police nor the college would confirm that Monday. The college's International Education Program has a China office and the computer studies program has an exchange partnership with a Chinese university.
The men are believed to have launched their boat from Britannia Beach -- where they were celebrating a birthday at nearby Lakeside Gardens -- and were apparently attempting to paddle the boat across to the Gatineau side.
They were last seen in the yellow dinghy going through the Deschênes Rapids at about 8:15 p.m. Saturday. Police recovered their boat east of the rapids on Sunday.
At Britannia Beach, near where the men reportedly launched, a City of Ottawa warning sign states: "Danger to windsurfers and boaters: Powerful rapids around the bend to the right. Swift river current in the channel."
Searchers from the Ottawa Fire Department water rescue team and Ottawa police searched the river and both shorelines until midnight Saturday, then picked up the search at about 8 a.m. Sunday. Five boats, an airplane equipped with a heat-seeking system, at least 12 searchers and dogs were involved in the search, which was called off around 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
Police could not say Monday whether the men had life-jackets in the boat, or whether alcohol was involved.
Sgt. Dan Beauchamps of the police marine unit said it's imperative for boaters to know the conditions in which they are boating and the equipment they will need to do it safely.
"(They should) understand at this time of the year the water is still very cold, the water is high, and the current is a lot stronger than it is in July or August," Beauchamps said.
"A little inflatable dinghy is not a very sea-worthy vessel," he said. "Especially to be boating in something (like the Deschênes Rapids.)"
Beauchamps said the Ottawa River's current can be "treacherous" at this time of year, and that it's easy to get into trouble in fast-moving water when you're not an experienced boater. He said all boaters should wear a life-jacket and be equipped with a whistle and other means of communication.