Two women are dead and two men are in critical condition after what police say are suspected overdoses at a Vancouver Island beach parking area.
West Shore RCMP say emergency crews responded to a report of a group of people in medical distress in the parking area on Taylor Road in Metchosin, B.C., southwest of Victoria.
Officers say there was evidence of unregulated toxic drug use, and two women were confirmed dead at the scene while two men suffering apparent drug overdoses were taken to hospital where they remain in critical condition.
Beach access in the area may be restricted while investigations take place, although police say no foul play is suspected and there is no risk to the general public.
The deaths happened the same day the British Columbia Coroners Service announced at least 192 people died in July in the province due to unregulated drug toxicity, down 15 per cent from the same month last year.
The service says in a release that 1,365 people have died of drug toxicity this year up to the end of July, a rate of death that is also down.
The annualized death rate is 41 per 100,000 residents, compared to 46.6 in 2023 and 43.9 in 2021.
Chief coroner Dr. Jatinder Baidwan says the current rate equates to about 6.2 people dying every day in the province from the drug toxicity crisis.
Coroners service data show the greatest number of suspected drug toxicity deaths this year have been in Vancouver with 296, Surrey with 130 and Greater Victoria with 101, while the Northern Health’s region has the highest concentration of cases at 75.7 deaths per 100,000 people.
Provincial Mental Health and Addictions Minister Jennifer Whiteside says in a statement that the latest numbers are a sombre reminder that B.C. needs to “expand access to treatment and recovery.”
“Getting help should be quick and easy, no matter where you live in British Columbia or where you are in your recovery journey,” Whiteside says, noting the province’s recent launch of an Opioid Treatment Access Line offering health-care connections to those in need of support.