Search and rescue teams spot missing firefighter submerged in the St. Lawrence River

Montreal fire chief Richard Liebmann confirmed Monday morning that search and rescue crews have spotted the missing firefighter in the Saint Lawrence River among the wreckage of the boat that sunk.

The firefighter from the Montreal Fire Department (SSIM) went under the water of the St. Lawrence River on Sunday, in Montreal, while rescuing the occupants of a small boat in distress.

Crews used a camera to confirm that the firefighter is trapped under the boat.

Liebmann said the retrieval of his colleague will be exceedingly difficult due to the swift currents in the Lachine Rapids. It is, he said, too dangerous to send divers into the fast-moving water.

Several emergency services were mobilized before dawn to try to locate the firefighter. Teams from the La Prairie, Longueuil, Varennes and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu fire departments were working alongside their Montreal counterparts, as were water patrol officers from the Montreal Police Department (SPVM).