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(KIM ANDERSON / iNFOnews.ca)

SUMMERLAND - Rescuers returned to base this morning after a night of searching for four ATV riders that had been reported overdue.

Penticton Search and Rescue spent six hours scouering the hills east of Summerland last night, Oct. 13 a media release says.

Summerland RCMP requested the services of Penticton Search and Rescue Saturday around midnight to search for four people on ATV who were overdue from a late afternoon ATV ride.

The four members on ATV were part of a group who had been camping west of Summerland when they decided to head out about 5 p.m. Saturday for a short ride. When the riders did not return after a few hours, another two ATV riderss struck out to find their friends.

As a last resort the group called the RCMP who in turn enlisted the support of SAR.

PENSAR Search Manager, Richard Terry, advised that he received the call around midnight and mobilized two teams using the SAR Side by Sides 4x4 to search the trails. Terry advised that the search team head out to the well-known ATV area west of Summerland.

"We knew where the group was but getting to them through the myriad of trails was difficult, the area is like a spider web," he says in the release.

Around 5 a.m. the PENSAR team finally located the disoriented ATV group and guided them back out of the area safety.

The group of ATV enthusiasts, who were from out of the region, were not that familiar with the area and had become disoriented as light faded. Terry advised that the group should have hunkered down and waited for the search team. Terry added there were no injuries though everyone was a bit cold and tired when the event came to a closure this morning.

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