Lifejacket Use saves six lives on Moose River

On July 7, 2019, at approximately 4:40 p.m., members of the James Bay Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to a vessel in distress on the Moose River near Moosonee, Ontario.

Upon arrival on scene, officers observed the vessel to be nearly completely submerged. Three adults and three children (aged 2-14 years) were observed in the water. All occupants of the vessel were removed from the river uninjured and taken to a place of safety. Further investigation revealed that the vessel had begun taking on water while navigating through rough conditions and subsequently went under.

This incident ended with all six people being rescued unharmed which is the absolute best possible scenario in a case such as this. All six occupants in the vessel were wearing lifejackets. Without lifejackets, this story may have ended in tragedy!

The OPP would like to remind the public that the vast majority of marine fatalities could have been avoided by people wearing lifejackets or personal floatation devices (PFD). Please ensure that you wear and/or have a lifejacket or PFD readily available to all occupants on board.

For more information on safe boating, please visit the following website:

Transport Canada: www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/debs-obs-menu-1362.htm

OPP