KAMLOOPS — A scary evening on Kamloops Lake for 13 people in a pleasure craft out for an evening boat ride. The boat lost power in the storm that was going through the area, and the boat was swamped by large waves brought on by the high winds, flooding the engine.
Staff Sergeant Michel Grondin says ” they were going up Kamloops Lake from the Thompson River. They were swamped by some large waves that were generated by high winds from the storm going through here. I guess they were forced to bail out of the boat once the engine lost power. “
There were 5 adults and 8 children between the ages of 12 and 15. 9 of the people were able to swim to shore, but Kamloops Fire and Rescue Captain Wade Lindoff says KFR and Search and Rescue teams had to pull the others from the water…
” We had our boat proceed offshore toward the middle of the lake. We came across some floating debris, and amongst that debris there were two persons in the water. We brought them onboard and found there were two others still missing. With a little more searching, we did find two more people and got them in the boat, so everyone was accounted for.”
Two of those pulled from the water were youths, the other two were adults.
Staff Sergeant Grondin says they’re still checking to see if all small vessel regulations were adhered to. He says it wasn’t only dangerous for those on the boat, but for rescue crews as well. The Kamloops RCMP helicopter was involved, working through high winds to assist in rescue efforts. All 13 were taken to Royal Inland to be checked over, but everyone was fine. The group were holidaying here from out of province.
Lindoff says it’s just an example of how conditions can change quickly when storm conditions arise. No indication where the vacationers were from.
