Three people are dead and five others injured after a collision involving two boats on a lake north of Kingston, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say the collision happened in the Buck Bay area of Bobs Lake after 9:30 p.m. on Saturday and involved “an open bow fishing-style boat” and a speedboat.
Emergency crews from surrounding regions, along with the 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron out of CFB Trenton, responded to the call around 9:45 p.m.
OPP said two women and one man, all in their 20s, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Five other people aged 21 to 44 were taken to hospital in Kingston with a range of injuries. One of the patients was airlifted.
Police said others who had been on the boats were found at the scene but did not need to be hospitalized.
“It’s a horrible situation. There were still people in the water when first responders arrived,” OPP spokesperson Bill Dickson said in a video update on X.
Frontenac OPP are investigating with help from a collision reconstructionist and members of the Technical Collision Investigation Team.
Bobs Lake is about 70 kilometres north of Kingston.
People are asked to avoid the area.
The crash happened an hour after sunset, something boating instructor Craig Hamilton said increases safety risk.
“When you’re operating at night, certainly it’s a lot harder to pick out images,” he said.
“[Boaters] have to understand that it is not just their own lives, but it’s the lives of other people that they’re responsible for.”
Source Agencies
