‘Ottawa’ Ottawa Man Dead After Dive to St. Lawrence River Wreck Site
A 59-year-old Ottawa man died Wednesday during a scuba diving excursion to a shipwreck site in the St. Lawrence River.
Grenville County Ontario Provincial Police said the incident happened at the Rothesay Dive Wreck site about two kilometres west of Prescott, Ont.
The man, from the Ottawa neighbourhood of Nepean, was scuba diving with a group at the site at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to OPP. As the divers emerged from the water, they noticed the man was in distress and brought him to shore.
He was taken by ambulance to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police are investigating.
The Rothesay was a wooden side-wheel ship launched in 1868 in New Brunswick and later relocated to the St. Lawrence River.
The ship was carrying passengers between Brockville, Ont., and Montreal in 1889 when it collided with a tugboat and sank. Two people on the tugboat died. The wreck remains a popular dive site.