2 men found dead inside car pulled out of Moncton creek

Firefighters recovered the bodies of a 33-year-old man and a 24-year-old man after responding to a call about a car found upside down in a Moncton creek on Tuesday morning.

The Moncton Fire Department received the call about the car in Hall's Creek at 9:19 a.m., said platoon chief Brian McDonald.

McDonald said it appeared the car was travelling north on Church Street when it crashed through a barrier and into the creek, which is a tributary to the Petitcodiac River.

McDonald said that once on scene, firefighters used ropes and a ladder to reach the car from the banks of the creek. 

After about 30 minutes, firefighters got close enough to determine there were bodies in the car, he said.

"At that point, the incident was deemed a recovery operation and no longer a rescue operation," he said.

After about another hour, firefighters pulled the car out of the creek using a tow truck and recovered the two bodies, McDonald said.

Further details about the two men who died were not available.

Unclear how crash happened

McDonald said though the call came in at 9:19 a.m., it's unclear exactly when the vehicle crashed into the creek, as no witnesses have come forward.

"For reasons unknown, the car left the road, crashed through some railings on the bridge, and landed in the river," he said.

McDonald said Codiac RCMP officers were still at the scene Tuesday afternoon investigating the crash.

He said the RCMP deployed drones to do an aerial search of other parts of the creek to ensure no other victims were involved in the crash.

Codiac Regional RCMP Sgt. Joel Arsenault confirmed Wednesday morning that no other individuals were found.

He said autopsies have been scheduled to determine the cause of the deaths.

An RCMP traffic reconstructionist and a member of the coroner's office are helping with the investigation.

"We had the drone do some site pictures, aerial pictures, and with the reconstructionist he's going to attempt to piece back the collision with the evidence that was on scene," said Arsenault.