A 12-year-old girl remains in life threatening condition in hospital after she and her 8-year-old brother nearly drowned at Bluffers Park in Scarborough.

Paramedics were called just before 11:30 a.m. on Saturday to the beach in the park after the boy was pulled from the water.

He was conscious and breathing at the time. Toronto police say he will make a full recovery.

Then, paramedics found the girl who was also pulled from the water.

Toronto paramedics said the girl had no vital signs on the way to the Hospital for Sick Children downtown, but they were able to get a pulse back.

Police, meanwhile, do not yet know if a parent or guardian was present on the beach, but they say neither foul play nor negligence is suspected.

Crowded beach

People say that, despite the hot weather on land, the water in Lake Ontario was cold and very rough with a strong undertow.

The beach was crowded at the time.

"Either the mother or a close relative of one of the people who were in the water, she came to me. And she asked me to call 911 with her phone," said Ying Guo, who was on the beach at the time.

Witnesses who spoke with CBC said it took a while for people to realize what was happening in the water.

"When I saw them drowning I called everybody and said 'Everybody help, everybody help!'" said Melanie Princena.

She said there were no lifeguards visible.

"The park is open, the water there is open for us, open to the public. Why is it there's no lifeguard?"

Several witnesses jumped into the water, or threw life preservers to try to rescue the children.

Bluffers Park is located at the foot of Brimley Road, just south of Kingston Road in the city's east end.