15-year-old boy drowns in Detroit canal after going for a swim

A 15-year-old Detroit boy died while swimming in a Detroit canal on Saturday evening. 

Emergency services were able to recover the teen but pronounced him dead due to accidental drowning. 

The Detroit Police Department was called to the 100 block of Keelson at around 5:20 p.m. Saturday. Emergency services, including the police department dive team, the Detroit Fire Department, and the Coast Guard, aided in the search.

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Rudy Harper, 2nd deputy chief of media relations at DPD, said the teen was visiting some people he knew and helping them do yard work when he asked if he could go for a swim. 

A witness said he could, and then he never resurfaced, Harper said. 

"The Detroit River can be vicious at times, as far as people swimming in it," Harper said. "We always just tell people to use caution in the canals, in the Detroit River, any body of water, really."

Contact Emma Stein: estein@freepress.com.