Toronto police have recovered the body of a scuba diver who went missing in the water last night near Humber Bay Park West.
Police say two divers were in the water off of Humber Bay Park Road at around 8 p.m. last night.
Paramedics said they were called to the scene after receiving a call about a diver in distress.
According to police, one of the divers, a 43-year-old man, made it out of the water but the second did not resurface.
The Toronto Police Service’s marine unit subsequently launched a search for the missing diver, who is believed to be a male.
The search operation wrapped up at around 12:30 a.m. and police resumed the search later Monday morning.
At around 10 a.m., police confirmed that the diver's body was found about 20 metres off shore.
Family and friends who gathered in the park awaiting answers were visibly distraught, consoling each other when police told them the news.
His name and age has not been confirmed by police.
The other diver with him told police that his friend may have had equipment problems while underwater. The victim was not wearing a wet or dry suit at the time, rather a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, when he was pulled from the lake.
Jim Jessiman, a certified diving instructor, told CTV News Toronto that fatalities during dives are usually a result of medical issues.
He said that problems with equipment, such as the diving regulator which helps reduce tank pressure to make it breathable, should not result in death, especially in water that is not very deep.
“It’s called a first stage and what it does is opens up and the pressure from the tank comes through it, that’s called a free flow,” Jessiman said. “The students are trained when they’re in open waters on how to handle that.”
An investigation is underway into the circumstances surrounding his death.
