A two-year-old child has been taken to hospital in critical condition following a water rescue operation along the Ottawa River, according to a news release from Gatineau Fire Services.

Ottawa Paramedics confirmed they received the call to assist firefighters with an ongoing rescue near the Remic Rapids just before 7 p.m., Friday evening. But the operation moved along the river as the rescue progressed, paramedics added.

The news release said a drone and an airplane were deployed to look for the child while the Gatineau and Ottawa fire departments searched on boats and police officers from both cities checked along the riverbanks.

The airplane found the child, then first responders pulled the two-year-old from the water and began to resuscitate them, the news release said.

Paramedics said the child was transported to hospital in critical condition.

In a social media post, Ottawa police had asked the public to avoid a section of the Kichi Zībī Mīkan because a water rescue operation was underway.