A BPS vehicle in downtown Bridgewater. Photo: CKBW Files (Evan Taylor).
An adult male from Bridgewater has died after drowning in the LaHave River near King Street Court.
Deputy Chief Danny MacPhee says the man had been swimming when he “lost some kind of ability to continue” and went underwater. Bystanders tried to rescue him but were unsuccessful.
“Multiple people went in the water trying to recover the individual that went underwater to help him from drowning,” MacPhee said. “But, no other parties needed to be recovered by us.”
Emergency crews from Bridgewater Police, Bridgewater Fire, Dayspring, and Northfield launched a recovery operation and located the man’s body a short time later using fire boats.
MacPhee says the death appears to be accidental, but “we’re waiting on the medical examiner’s office now to determine next steps.”
He says the LaHave River is swimmable in some areas, but not usually within the town limits. “It depends your area and your location. Not a lot of people swim in the town area of it just because it’s so shallow in spots, depending on the tide.”
Police are asking the public to continue avoiding the area of King Street between Dominion and Empire until the scene is cleared.
