Two men from India dead after incident at rural N.B. swimming hole
CBC
Two men have died at a popular swimming hole about 20 kilometres south of Petitcodiac, now part of the community of Three Rivers, police said Tuesday.
Police went to Gibson Falls, just off River Road in Elgin, at about 3:30 p.m. on Monday after reports of people in medical distress, RCMP spokesperson Hans Ouellette said in an email.
Upon arrival, police, fire and ambulance responders recovered a 21-year-old man from the Pollet River and attempted lifesaving measures, but he died at the scene, Ouellette said.
The body of a 24-year-old man was recovered from the water on Tuesday. Both men were citizens of India, Ouellette said.
Criminality is not believed to be a factor and the investigation into the deaths is being handled by the provincial coroner's office, he said.
This is not the first death at Gibson Falls. There have been at least two others in the last dozen years.
Kent Steeves, Elgin's volunteer fire chief, said it's a dangerous area.
"The location is in a deep gorge and it's tough to get down into [and] it's tough to get back out of," Steeves said.
"So, the easiest way in is to jump. But the problem is, being down there and coming back up is the struggle because it's all rock."
Steeves said on average, the department tends to respond to a call at Gibson Falls at least once a year. It's a popular spot for swimming, and it's not uncommon to see about a hundred cars parked along the road in the summer, he said.
The property is privately owned and has signage warning visitors that they enter at their own risk, Steeves said.
The department even trains in the area "because we know it's a problem area for us."
"At the end of the day, it's a tough place to get into and it is dangerous.
"When you have lots of people in there and they're all jumping and maybe not looking down, people can get landed on," he said.