THE CANADIAN PRESS
EAR FALLS, Ont. - Two American men were killed and another was missing after a tornado uprooted two cabins and dropped the buildings into a northwestern Ontario lake.
The tornado touched down Thursday at the Fisherman's Cove Resort on Lac Seul, about 15 kilometres south of Ear Falls, Ont., at about 8:30 p.m. local time.
The two dead men and the missing man, all from Oklahoma, were inside the cabin when it was ripped from the ground, said Geoff Coulson, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
Five other people inside a second cabin received minor injuries, Coulson said.
"In this case, two cabins at the fishing camp were picked up and thrown some distance into the lake, and that was the direct cause of the two fatalities and the five other injuries that were reported," Coulson said.
The two bodies were found in the water several metres offshore, police said.
Officers spent Friday scouring the area around Fisherman's Cove for the missing man, whose name was not released.
Ontario Provincial Police also declined to publicly identify the two men killed in the storm, saying their families still needed to be notified.
The area around the resort was cordoned off Friday for the search, said Const. Beth Chevalier.
"No one's being allowed entry to Fisherman's Cove at this time," she said.
The national weather office confirmed the tornado touched down after dispatching a staff member to the area to survey the damage.
The tornado, ranked as an F2, had wind speeds between 180 and 240 kilometres per hour, Environment Canada said.
"As we approach winds of around 200 kilometres an hour or stronger, these are definitely deadly force winds and can do significant damage to structures," Coulson said.
Ear Falls is about two hours north of Dryden, Ont.
