A 34-year-old Toronto woman and her five-year-old daughter have died in an apparent drowning in a resort pool while vacationing north of Toronto.
Ontario Provincial Police Const. Martin Hachey said officers were called to the Mountain Springs Resort and Conference Centre just west of Collingwood, Ont., on Tuesday shortly after 7 p.m.
The mother and daughter were pronounced dead in hospital, and a post-mortem examination was planned for Tuesday.
Yiting Gong told CTV Toronto that his wife and daughter left for the outdoor pool just 10 minutes before him and by the time he reached the pool, they were gone.
“We were a lovely family. My wife loved me so much. I loved her so much,” Gong said.
“They should have a lifeguard here to save their lives,” Gong added. “My heart is broken.”
Surveillance footage shows the mother, Tiffany Gong, and her daughter, Chloe Gong, walk into the shallow end of the pool. They appear to clasp a flotation device before going out of sight.
Const. Hachey said it was a difficult call for police to attend. “Officers have kids themselves,” he said.
Sheldon Rosen, who runs a property management company adjacent to the pool, said he tried to help the grieving father.
“It was horrible,” Rosen said. “I comforted him as much as I could.”
A staff member at the resort said there were multiple signs indicating there are no lifeguards at the pool.
A spokesperson with the Toronto District School Board confirmed that Chloe attended Iroquois Junior Public School in the Scarborough area of Toronto and that a letter would be sent home to parents of children at the school.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Sean Leathong and The Canadian Press
