Crews search for missing male in Toronto after 2 people caught in water – Toronto | Globalnews.ca

Toronto police and fire officials say they are searching for a missing male who was possibly swept away into the storm drain at Earl Bales Park early Friday.

Toronto fire platoon chief John Carson told reporters they responded to the river area at Earl Bales Park at around 1:20 a.m. for reports of a missing person.

Carson said two people were swimming in the water and only one of them, an 18-year-old man, was able to self-rescue and get out of the water.

Meanwhile, the second person, another male, has not yet been located. His age was not provided.

Crews have launched an extensive search focusing on the sewage drainage area as that is where the water flows, Carson said.

He also said there is a storm sewer runoff and the water goes into the west Don River.

“The City of Toronto did attend and they offered extensive assistance and mapping and water direction and certainly aided extensively in our search,” Carson told reporters.

Carson also said the man who was able to escape the water was taken to hospital but was brought back to provide information on where the second male went missing.

He said it is a risky rescue and search effort as crews are dealing with fast water.

A powerful storm swept through the Greater Toronto Area late Thursday night into early Friday, bringing between 15 to 30 millimetres of rain in the area.

It is not clear what the pair were doing in and around the water.

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