Recovery efforts to find the bodies of two university students who went missing in the Ottawa River will continue Tuesday morning.
Dive teams returned to the river Monday to search for the two students, who are presumed dead.
Fanzheng Meng, 28, and Chen Yuan, 20, were last seen paddling near Britannia Beach in the city's west end at about 7 p.m. Saturday. Search efforts recovered the pair's yellow dingy near the Deschenes Rapids on Sunday.
"These people had only been here for a short time in Ottawa, they were international students going to university here from China," said Ottawa police Insp. Mike Sanford.
"We suspect they'd never even been on the Ottawa River; totally unaware that these rapids existed. So, when they left Britannia Beach, they attempted to go to the Aylmer shoreline or the Gatineau shoreline -- they would have been caught up in the current and swept right into the rapids," he said.
One of the students went to Carleton University; the other was enrolled at Algonquin College.
Rescue crews scoured the river for the missing students over the weekend, using boats and a plane.
Police say it's believed the boaters only had one ore and one lifejacket on board at the time of the incident. However, it's unclear whether either passenger was wearing the flotation device.
The two students were at the beach to participate in a cook-out Saturday afternoon.
Since Saturday, more than 12 police and fire officials have been involved in the search.
