A 15-year-old boy drowned at Kidston Lake in the Halifax community of Spryfield on Thursday.

Halifax Regional Police say they were called to the lake just before 7 p.m. for a report that someone was having trouble swimming, had gone underwater and could not be found.

An RCMP dive team was on the scene and found the body shortly after 11:30 p.m., according to an RCMP news release Friday morning.

Police are not releasing the name of the boy. Police originally said the boy was 14 years old but corrected that in the latest news release.

Kidston Lake is a popular swimming hole in the area. (Michael Gorman/CBC)

A resident who lives near the lake said the boy was in the water with some friends and appeared not to be a good swimmer.

The boy wasn't flailing or showing obvious signs of distress, so his friends didn't seem to realize he was having trouble until he went under and didn't come back up again.

On Friday morning, a white candle and a bouquet of flowers were left on the lifeguard stand.

A makeshift memorial is shown on the lifeguard stand at Kidston Lake on Friday morning. (Craig Paisley/CBC)

Kidston Lake is a popular swimming hole in the area.

The beach is one of the HRM's supervised beaches. It's supervised daily until 5 p.m.

On Friday, the municipality closed the lake's beach "out of respect for the family and friends of a recent drowning victim." Free swimming was being offered at Captain William Spry Wave Pool.

The lake's beach reopened on Saturday.

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