Four cadets found dead after incident at Royal Military College

Four military officer cadets were killed at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, where investigators pulled a vehicle from the waters around the campus on Friday.

“We can confirm that four RMC cadets have passed away as a result of this tragic incident,” the Department of National Defense said in a statement issued Friday.

“As the investigation is in its early stages, no further details can be provided at this time.”

Local news footage showed the vehicle was recovered from the scene, which is located on the Point Frederick Peninsula where Lake Ontario meets the St. Lawrence River.

The Canadian Armed Forces said in a news release that officers Jack Hogarth, Andrei Honciu, Broden Murphy and Andres Salek lost their lives in a “fatal incident” that occurred around 2 a.m.

Mr. Hogarth and Mr. Salek were both in military and strategic studies and hoped to become officers in an armored regiment. Mr. Honciu was studying business administration and planned to be a logistics officer. And Mr. Murphy, also a business administration student, was working to become an aerospace environmental controller.

The university has trained Canada’s military leaders for almost 150 years. The students were finishing their exams and there were only three weeks to go before the convocation ceremonies scheduled for mid-May.

“I cannot express how saddened I am by this tragedy,” Youri Cormier, an associate professor at RMC, said in an email to The Globe and Mail. “It is a small university. They all know each other very well.”

“A wound that deep is going to be difficult to heal,” added Dr. Cormier, executive director of the Defense Conference Institute of Partnerships.

The investigation is being carried out by the Canadian Forces National Investigative Service, with the help of the Kingston Police and the Ontario Provincial Police.

Over the years, other officer cadets have died in the waters surrounding the campus. Joseph Grozelle, 21, disappeared from his bedroom weeks before his body was discovered in a nearby river in 2003.

RMC Officer Cadet anthony bowie drowned at the age of 18 during a steeplechase in September 1972.

On Friday, several politicians posted statements on Twitter about the tragedy at RMC.

Defense Minister Anita Anand wrote that she is “heartbroken” by “a loss so profound, it is felt throughout our Canadian Armed Forces and our country.”

Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, a graduate of the school, said the deaths are “terribly sad news from the Royal Military College, where exceptional young Canadians are to serve.”

The Department of National Defense said details may take days to determine because the military college’s “top priority is to ensure that our naval and officer cadets, staff, faculty and families are cared for and supported.”

– With an Emerald Bensadoun file

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