MONTREAL — A Ukrainian refugee who recently arrived in Quebec has been missing since Wednesday evening after he went swimming in a river southeast of Quebec City.
Laura Torres, who works with a group that helps immigrants settle into the region, said the young man had fled the war in Ukraine and arrived in Quebec earlier this month.
Torres said she was with the man's mother on Wednesday when the woman called police about her missing son.
Quebec provincial police said they are looking for a man in his 20s who disappeared after going for a swim in the Etchemin River in St-Anselme, Que., but they have not confirmed his identity.
Police spokesman Sgt. Hugues Beaulieu said the man often swam in the river. Beaulieu said police received a call around midnight Thursday from family members who were concerned that he had not returned.
He said police officers searched the river banks early Thursday morning with the help of the local fire department, and that divers and a provincial police helicopter arrived later in the day.
However, divers suspended their search around 3:30 p.m., police spokeswoman Sgt. Camille Savoie said, because of a strong current "that was putting the safety of the divers at risk."
She said the search operation would resume Friday morning, adding that it was unclear whether divers would participate.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2023.
The Canadian Press
