Two girls drown after swim in Rivière du Sud in Bellechasse
Two girls, 12 and 14 years old, disappeared while swimming in river near Saint-Raphaël, Que.
Rescue workers have pulled the bodies of two adolescent girls from a river in the Bellechasse region, southeast of Quebec City.
Authorities confirm the 12-year-old and 14-year-old girls both drowned in the Rivière du Sud in the Bellechasse region.
Provincial police said the pair was swimming in the river near the municipality of Saint-Raphaël when the girls apparently ran into trouble.
The Sûreté du Québec was called in at around 1:30 p.m. to search for them. Police deployed a helicopter and firefighters were also involved.
The river's water levels are higher than normal due to the rain that fell in recent days.
Raynald Hawkins, director of Quebec's Life Saving Society, said that swimming in a river is always risky, especially on a day after it rained.
"All it takes is an abundant shower that falls just a few hours before swimming to alter the water flow. Once the flow of the water changes, it creates a new vortex that pulls towards the bottom," Hawkins said, adding that the highest number of drownings in the province occur at the end of July.
