January 7, 2011

Construction of Winnipeg’s Disraeli Bridge halted as police search for boy’s body

Construction of the Disraeli Bridge over the Red River in Winnipeg, Manitoba has been halted as police attempt to find the body of a six year old boy, who fell through the ice.

Nathaniel Thorassie, fell through the ice while he was with his 10 year old brother on Dec. 4.

They were playing with hockey sticks and breaking chunks of ice by the open water when the ice's edge broke away.

Both siblings fell into the frigid water, but the older boy was saved when a passerby tossed him a rope.

The city’s police have been working with Canadian Amphibious Search Team (CAST) to find the body of the child.

This week police resumed their seach and Winnipeg officials brought a pig cadaver to the Red River in hopes it will lead divers to the boy's body.

The Disraeli Bridge is Winnipeg’s largest bridge project to date. At the peak of construction the project will support 120 construction jobs.

Plenary Roads Winnipeg — the construction consortium hired for the three-year project — was to start preparing the site around the bridge by building a construction compound and doing some riverbank stabilization. That work would have occurred near the same spots divers use for their staging areas.

JOC Digital Media

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