This is the area of the Shuswap River a car reportedly plunged into Saturday night.
Image Credit: Global Okanagan/Megan Turcato (with permission)
June 16, 2014 - 11:39 AM
VERNON - It could be weeks before dive teams can safely search for a submerged truck and the missing person who might be inside it.
RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says it’s too dangerous to send divers into fast-moving Shuswap River where a truck reportedly plunged into it.
A witness told police the truck went off the road and into the river around 8 p.m. Saturday near the Shuswap Falls bridge on Mabel Lake Road east of Lumby. The witness didn’t see anyone make it out of the truck, which sank into the dark and rushing waters.
Police know who the registered owner of the truck is, because a license plate was found at the scene, but they can’t confirm if he was driving. The Lumby man has been declared a missing person. It is unknown how many occupants were in the vehicle, if any.
“We are still speaking with family. It’s a very tragic case,” Molendyk says.
Vernon Search and Rescue performed a ground search Sunday, but did not find anyone. They believe they located the truck by probing the water, though no visual confirmation has been made. It could be July before dive teams can enter the river.
“It is just far too dangerous to put our folks in the water,” Molendyk says.
Pete Wise, with Vernon Search and Rescue, says there are marks on the steep river banks that could have been left by the vehicle.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014