Police say one man is presumed dead after a boating accident in Mission, B.C., in which two people fell into the Nicomen Slough.
Two men were out in a small, flat-bottom, aluminum boat around 6:30 p.m. PT on Friday when the accident occurred, said the RCMP in Mission, about 70 kilometres southeast of Vancouver.
The two men were doing donuts in the water, according to police, when they hit their own wake — the fast stream of water left behind on the water’s surface from a moving vessel. That impact caused both men, who weren’t wearing life jackets, to fall into the water.
The 37-year-old boat driver from Dewdney, about 85 kilometres southeast of Vancouver, was still missing Saturday morning and it is unlikely he is still alive, RCMP said. The boat passenger, however, made it ashore.
“This is a tragic end to what was supposed to be an enjoyable evening on the water,” RCMP Cpl. Harrison Mohr said in a statement.
“As we enter peak boating season, please remember to always wear a life jacket when you’re on the water, as it only takes a second for something to go terribly wrong,” he added. “It’s like a seatbelt in a car — it only works if you wear it.”
The RCMP said alcohol may have been a factor in the accident.
Police said the Nicomen Slough area where the accident occurred is only around 12 feet deep, and there was no major current observed flowing through the stream of the Fraser River on Saturday morning.
Mission search-and-rescue officials are expected to be on the scene searching for the boat driver all day.