A man and a woman have died after a car went into Lac Saint-Louis, in the Lachine borough, Tuesday evening.
Witnesses told Montreal police they noticed a parked vehicle suddenly accelerate toward the water at around 6:30 p.m. at the corner of St-Joseph Blvd. and 34th Avenue.
The vehicle was pulled from the lake early Wednesday morning, as were the bodies of the two people. Police say the man was 22 and the woman was 19.
Police suspect driver error was to blame.
Montreal police, firefighters and the Canadian Coast Guard were called to the scene. The car was nearly seven metres underwater, according to Jean-François Larente, a section chief with the fire department.
Witness dives into water to help
Fabilou Diop, a LaSalle resident, had his back turned to the water when he heard a noise.
“When I turned around, I saw a car had plummeted into the water,” he told Radio-Canada. “I approached, and there was a man and a woman in the vehicle who were panicking.”
Diop said the window was down, and the car was sinking. He jumped into the water and tried to help, but he couldn’t get near the vehicle in time, he said.
He said he dove under water and was able to touch the car, but not rescue the occupants. They were trapped inside, he said.
He said he has no idea how the car ended up in the water, but it was clear the two people inside were scared as it sank.
