Coroner issues warning as swimmer dies, boater missing in B.C. waters

Coroner urges caution on the water following drowning deaths B.C’s Coroners Service says drowning deaths spike every summer. With five cases in the province so far this month, CTV’s Gord Kurbis looks at a few safety reminders.

VANCOUVER - The BC Coroner's Service has issued a warning about water safety as the drowning toll reaches five in the province this month.

It also comes a day after the body of a 20-year-old man was pulled from a lake near Squamish, and the RCMP dive team continues to search a lake near Lillooet for a man.

The service says statistics consistently show a spike in drowning deaths beginning in May and rising through August, although there were 47 accidental drownings in 2016, the lowest toll in the past decade.

A RCMP news release says its underwater recovery team is searching Gun Lake, about 100 kilometres west of Lillooet, after a man fell into water while boating on June 17.

On Wednesday, a 20-year-old Delta man disappeared in Alice Lake near Squamish and police divers recovered his body the next day.

The coroners service advises that alcohol should never be mixed with swimming, boating or any water-based activity, noting impairment greatly increases the chance of an accidental drowning.