6 bodies, including 1 child, recovered from St. Lawrence River

The bodies of six people, including one child with a Canadian passport, were recovered from the St. Lawrence River near Akwesasnelate Thursday afternoon, according to police in the community.

The first body was located at about5 p.m. ET in a marsh area near the U.S.border, the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service said in a release.The Mohawk community straddles the Canada-U.S. border and occupies territory in Ontario, Quebec and New York state.

Akwesasne police Chief Shawn Duludesaid he could not provide any information on the nationalities of the other five.

Police saidthey arewaiting on the results of a post-mortem and toxicology tests to determine the cause of death.

They also said they will seekhelp from Quebec provincial police and the Ontario Provincial Police air support units.

Akwesasne is about 120 kilometres west of Montreal and borders Cornwall, Ont.

Helicopter crew sawoverturned boat

Akwesasne police, with the assistance of the Canadian Coast Guard, areleading theinvestigation, Dulude said.

The bodies were spotted in Canadian waters by aCoast Guard helicopter, hesaid.

A search was launched earlier in the afternoon after the crew of a search and rescue helicopter saw an overturned boat in the water, a spokesperson for the Trenton Joint Rescue Coordination Centresaid in an email.

The discovery of the bodies coincided with the search for a missing boater from Akwesasnethat also began Thursday, Dulude said.

The family reported the boater missing after he was last seen launching into the St. Lawrence from Cornwall Island, south of Cornwallon Wednesday night, at about9:40 p.m.