2 dead, 3 injured after boat collision on Osoyoos Lake
Two boats collided and sank on Saturday
Two men are dead after a boat collision in British Columbia's Osoyoos Lake on Saturday.
The deceased are a 35-year-old man from Kamloops and a 36-year-old man from Maple Ridge, according to Sergeant Jason Bayda of the Osoyoos RCMP.
An RCMP dive team recovered their bodies on Sunday evening shortly after 7:00 p.m. PT.
Police say they received numerous reports Saturday evening about two boats colliding between Highway 3 and Swiws Provincial Park/Haynes Point.
Two people are missing after a boat collision on Osoyoos Lake yesterday evening. RCMP dive team is in the water today searching. RCMP say 2 boats crashed and quickly sank around 7:15pm. 3 ppl in one boat were rescued and taken to hospital. Ppl in second boat unaccounted for. <a href="https://t.co/4HiPBT8OOV">pic.twitter.com/4HiPBT8OOV</a>
—@BradyStrachanThe RCMP say both boats sank quickly. Three occupants of one boat were rescued and taken to hospital, two with critical injuries and one in stable condition.
Glenn Senft said he heard the crash and watched one of the boats sink.
He ran down to the causeway and wrenched off a chain blocking vehicle access to the lake so that paramedics could drive in.
Rich Propp, one of the people involved in the rescue, said he saw debris floating in the water and people waving to him as they clung to the smashed bow of the boat.
He got in his boat and headed in their direction, along with another man in a fishing skiff.
"We went over and started getting the one boy on our boat. The skiff got the other two boys in their boat," he said.
He said one of the people looked to be in "pretty bad" shape, while the other two were in shock.
"I don't think we realized how bad it was until we pulled them out of there," he said.
RCMP say marine analysts are on the lake today investigating the cause of the collision. They are asking anyone who witnessed the collision to contact Osoyoos RCMP at 250-495-7236.
With files from Brady Strachan