Driver arrested after child dies in boating incident in Quebec’s Laurentians

The driver of a watercraft involved in the death of a toddler in the Baskatong reservoir has been arrested, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) confirmed Sunday.

The 31-year-old man was released on a promise to appear.

“He could face charges of impaired driving causing death,” said SQ spokesman Nicolas Scholtus.

The child’s body was recovered on Sunday, one day after the incident occurred in the reservoir in Quebec’s Upper Laurentians.

The initial call to the MRC Antoine-Labelle emergency services at 6:15 p.m. Saturday was about “a boating incident.”

Police say the event involved a single boat.

“According to preliminary information, one person suffered serious injuries as a result of the incident, and Sûreté du Québec divers and a water patrol went to the scene,” said SQ spokesperson Ève Brochu-Joubert. “It was during the night that divers fished out the missing person. The victim is a child under the age of five. Unfortunately, they were pronounced dead onsite.”

Investigators and event reconstructionists were dispatched to the scene to determine the causes and circumstances leading to the child’s death.

— This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 3, 2024.