One child killed, another in hospital after Vancouver speed boat crash

NORTH VANCOUVER — An 11-year-old child is dead and another is in critical condition after a speed boat hit them while they were being towed on an inner tube off North Vancouver’s Cates Park on Saturday.

North Vancouver RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Mansoor Sahak said Sunday that the driver of the speed boat was taken into custody, and both speed an alcohol may have played a roll in the crash.

“This was a major incident that required a response from multiple agencies,” Cpl. Sahak said at a news conference.

He said multiple calls about the crash came in around 6:30 p.m., and first responders were unsuccessful in their efforts to save the 11-year-old and the child was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sahak said the driver of the speed boat has not yet been charged, and the investigation will take time after hearing from several witnesses.

“Police have received multiple calls from witnesses, but there may be more out there,” he said. “We’re urging anyone who was on the water, witnessed the incident and may have recorded the incident on their cellphone to call police.”

Police did not immediately release the names of either the victims or the suspect and could only confirm the age of the deceased.

Sahak said there were multiple people on the speed boat at the time of the crash, and the driver of the vessel towing the inflatable tube was related to one of the victims, but he didn’t reveal their exact relationship.

He said the North Vancouver RCMP has a boat that patrols the waters on busy day and the detachment gets occasional calls about problems, but he didn’t know if the police vessel was deployed at the time of the crash.

“It’s a tragic incident,” he said. “As this investigation continues, officers will work to uncover all available evidence pointing to the cause of this collision.”

This report from The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2025.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press