Image Credit: SUBMITTED/COSAR
August 28, 2022 - 8:37 AM
The search for a missing Manitoba man is continuing today after he was last seen in Okanagan Lake, Friday night.
On Aug. 26, the 45-year-old Manitoba man entered the lake in the McKinley Landing area to help a friend who was struggling to swim in the water. The man and some friends had rented a pontoon boat from Kelowna and were visiting from out of town.
She was wearing a life jacket but didn’t know how to either swim or paddle, said Const. Mike Della-Paolera, with the Kelowna RCMP.
READ MORE: RCMP searching for missing man in Okanagan Lake
“Throughout the chaos, they lost track of him. It was about 200 metres off the shore,” he said.
The RCMP and Central Okanagan Search and Rescue have been searching since Friday to find him.
Search manager Duane Tresnich, with COSAR, said crews are having difficulties using an underwater camera to find the man as the depth down below is reaching 36 to 45 metres.
“It’s really hard to control a camera when you’re down that deep,” he said. A helicopter has cleared the area yesterday so it won’t return today but kayak teams will be searching for him on the water.
There’s been a high number of drownings in the Thompson Okanagan this year.
The Lifesaving Society keeps track of drownings in the province. As of Aug. 16, it recorded 22 drownings in B.C. this year with 50% being recorded in the Thompson Okanagan, an unusually high number compared to previous years.
READ MORE: Thompson Okanagan seeing higher number of drownings
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