Nova Scotia

International student drowns during kayaking trip in Antigonish County

Once the pair returned to the dock after kayaking, the older man got out of the kayak safely, but the student ended up falling off the dock and into the water.

'The friend that he was with tried to pull him from the water but wasn't able to do so,' RCMP say

Image of RCMP logo on the side of a RCMP vehicle.
The underwater recovery team was called and the student's body was found directly underneath the dock around 11 p.m. that night. (CBC)

A 19-year-old international student drowned at a lake in Antigonish County, N.S., during a recent kayaking trip.

RCMP Cpl. Chris Marshall said in an interview Mounties received a request for assistance on Monday afternoon for a person that had gone under the water of Lochaber Lake in North Lochaber and never resurfaced.

Marshall said when authorities got to the scene, they learned the student had been kayaking with a 27-year-old man.

Once the pair returned to the dock after kayaking, the older man got out of the kayak safely, but the student ended up falling off the dock and into the water.

"The friend that he was with tried to, basically, pull him from the water but wasn't able to do so," Marshall said.

The underwater recovery team was called, Marshall said, and the student's body was found directly underneath the dock around 11 p.m. that night.

He added he does not know where the student is from or if the other man who was there is also a student.

Authorities do not believe the student's death to be suspicious and the case is now with the medical examiner's office.