Canadian mother and 5-y-o son drown on vacation in Antigua

ST JOHN'S, Antigua, CMC –  A 37-year-old Canadian woman and her five-year-old son who were visiting Antigua on a family vacation drowned on Thursday morning at Devil's Bridge.

According to police reports, the woman's 38-year-old husband, who is also from Canada, received cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the scene after he went into distress while trying to save his wife and son.

The incident came to a tragic end with the retrieval of the lifeless body of the 5-year-old boy and his mother.

They were pronounced dead by a doctor at approximately 9:15 am (local time).

The husband, who has not yet been named, said they had come to witness the sunrise at Devils Bridge, when a wave got too close to his son who was standing at the water's edge, causing him to panic.

The child held onto his mother's legs, and they both fell over the bridge.

Tourism Minister Charles Max Fernandez told reporters that plans are underway to get the man returned to Canada on Thursday as he wished.

This is the second instance of tourist death at Devil's Bridge this year.

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