London teen drowns, 12-year old rescued, at Ipperwash Beach

Police say an 18-year-old from London drowned at Ipperwash Beach on Monday afternoon trying to save his 12-year-old brother who was rescued by bystanders. 

It happened at about 4 p.m. on Monday on the section of Ipperwash Beach about halfway between Ipperwash Road and Army Camp Road.

Police say the 12-year-old had drifted away from shore while using a floatation device. The 18-year-old went out into the water to help, and people on the beach noticed both were in distress. Bystanders were able to bring the 12-year-old back to shore and emergency crews were called. 

After a search involving boats and jet skis, the 18-year-old was found and pulled from the water, but was unresponsive. CBC News has confirmed with members of the London mosque that the victim was Ahmad Ramez Halabi, an older sibling to the younger boy.

'I feel so bad' says witness

Mya McGowan was on the beach when it happened and said it took some time for the 18-year-old to be found after the boy was rescued. 

"After about 15 or 20 minutes of searching, they found the girl and brought her back of the chief truck and they were doing compressions for about 15 minutes, CPR," she said. "They were doing that for quite a while. They drove down towards the boat launch while doing it and that's the last thing that we saw until they pulled away.

"I feel so bad, so terrible," said McGowan. 

Jeff Hill came to the beach from a nearby cottage while the search was underway. He said conditions on the water were calm at the time and that the beach wasn't crowded. 

"There wasn't a lot of people on the water and no one saw it until bad things happened," he said. 

The agencies involved in the rescue included the Lambton County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Anishinabek Police Service, Lambton County Emergency Medical Services and Lambton Shores Fire and Emergency Services.

An OPP spokesperson said they would not be releasing the name of the person who died, only saying that they are from London.

"Our thoughts are with the family and everyone impacted by this tragic incident," said OPP Const. Jeanine Robertson. 

It's already been a bad summer for drownings on the Great Lakes in the London area. 

A 35-year-old Woodstock man drowned while swimming at Port Burwell on Lake Erie on June 22.

A day later, a child was rescued from Lake Huron near Goderich after drifting far from shore while on an inflatable device. 

Halabi's funeral is scheduled for Thursday.