Ontario Provincial Police continue to investigate a long weekend fatal boat collision on Bobs Lake, north of Kingston, Ont.
Three people, between the ages of 21 and 23, were killed when an open-bow fishing-style boat and a speed boat collided in the Buck Bay area of Bobs Lake on Saturday night, according to Ontario Provincial Police. Five other people, ranging in age from 21 to 44, were transported to a Kingston hospital with injuries.
Divers with the Ontario Provincial Police were expected to search the water of Bobs Lake on Tuesday for evidence as part of the investigation.
A photo obtained by CTV News Ottawa of the two vessels involved in the crash shows a red speed boat on top of the back of the fishing boat.
Some residents on Buck Bay told CTV News Ottawa on Sunday they heard a bang from across the bay Saturday night, while others thought it was fireworks.
The crash occurred just after 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t surprised,” Ian Gilson, director of the Canadian Safe Boating Council, told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal.
“Accidents happen, especially during this first weekend, the unofficial start of the summer. These collisions are rare, but there are a plethora of other accidents that tend to happen.”
Gilson says collisions like this are easily avoidable.
“Unlike a car, when you look at the shape of the bow of the boat when it hits something it’s going to rise above – inevitably, people get injured or killed,” Gilson said.
“It’s really tragic, and it doesn’t have to happen. You wouldn’t drive your car in a fog or without your light at night at the speed limit for fear that you would run into somebody else, what’s the difference with a boat.”
If you are boating at night, Gilson recommends having your navigation lights on.
“The red and green navigation lights, along with the all-around white light, especially if you’re moving, is a good way to understand that there’s something else out there,” Gilson said.
Three people were killed in a crash involving two boats on Bobs Lake on Saturday night. Bobs Lake is located north of Kingston and southwest of Ottawa.