Boys 11 and 15 drown Monday in snowmobile accident on Lake Muskoka

GRAVENHURST — Two boys, 11 and 15, drowned early today in a snowmobile accident near the Narrows on Lake Muskoka.

Emergency services were called out after midnight Monday, Feb. 4, to Lake Muskoka at Gravenhurst, after five snowmobilers went through the ice. Two boys, one from Bracebridge, age 11, and one from Gravenhurst, age 15, died.

Provincial police, Gravenhurst Fire and Muskoka EMS responded to the accident just after midnight, March 4, in which three snowmobiles and the five people riding on them went through the ice and into the water.

A 31-year-old Bracebridge man, a 37-year-old Gravenhurst man and a 14-year-old from Gravenhurst were able to get themselves to shore.

However, it took emergency services personnel to retrieve the 11-year-old from Bracebridge and 15-year-old from Gravenhurst.

Police say the boys were transported to hospital, but unfortunately lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful.

The OPP Underwater Search and Recover Unit (USRU), OPP Aviation support and Technical Traffic Collision Investigators are assisting in this ongoing investigation in co-ordination with the office of Ontario’s chief coroner.

Const. Sam Bigley tells MuskokaTODAY that the accident happened at the end of the Narrows Road, near the Narrows lighthouse, which connects Gravenhurst Bay out into Lake Muskoka.

She said: “We aren’t releasing any details relating to the familial makeup at this stage.

“Names will be released at some point though,” she said in an email.