Victims Identified In Lake Ontario Van Crash
Posted October 12, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Two bodies that were pulled from Lake Ontario Saturday have been identified.
George Ngo and Colman Leung, both 22, drowned in the frigid waters.
Their ordeal began before dawn near the intersection of Bathurst and Queens Quay, when an eyewitness reports he heard a car accelerate and then a loud crash.
That crushing noise was the sound of a minivan hitting a series of concrete pillars before plunging into the lake.
The witness, Henry Torrealba, raced down from his condo, tore off his clothes, and jumped into the water in an attempt to save the dying man. He could only see one from the shore.
Torrealba and a police officer who also dove in were about 30 feet from the victim when he disappeared.
“I couldn’t see him any more but we kept swimming … it was freezing, freezing cold and we couldn’t see anything.”
The brave man insisted he doesn’t deserve any accolades.
“No hero here, just trying to save somebody…I saw somebody in need and I would have done it for anybody.”
His efforts were in vain, a fact that constitutes Torrealba’s only regret.
“I should have jumped in a minute earlier and I would have saved him, I know I could have.”
While police have not yet said they are investigating two murders, a murder-suicide, a terrible traffic accident or another possibility, the homicide squad has been called in.
For now, the deaths have been labeled suspicious.
“I don’t believe that there are any suspects outstanding,” Det Sgt Gary Grinton allowed Saturday, but he won’t say for certain.
Forensic testing will be done on the vehicle, a process that’s likely to take days.
Call Crime Stoppers at (416) 222-TIPS if you saw anything.
Homicide Investigators Called In After Two Bodies Pulled From Lake Ontario
