RCMP continue search for two boys swept into rapids at Nutimik Lake

Two boys are missing after slipping into the rapids on Manitoba’s Nutimik Lake.

Two boys remain missing after they were swept into fast-moving rapids at Manitoba’s Nutimik Lake and did not resurface, according to Lac du Bonnet RCMP.

Police said they received a report of a possible drowning near Sturgeon Falls Trail in Nutimik Lake, located in Whiteshell Provincial Park, at 12:40 p.m. on Saturday.

Officers responded to the scene immediately, along with local fire crews and emergency medical services, and determined that the boys had been swept into the rapids at Sturgeon Falls.

An RCMP spokesperson confirmed the boys, ages 10 and 13, were related, though further details on the relationship were not released.

“The younger boy fell in first, but at this time, it’s believed the older boy went into the water to try to help the younger one,” the spokesperson told CTV News on Sunday afternoon.

The RCMP’s Underwater Recovery Team and the Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team were deployed to assist in the search.

Police said patrols of the water and shoreline, aided by drones, had not yet located either boy, according to a news release issued Sunday afternoon.

RCMP officers, together with the underwater recovery and aquatic response teams, remain at the scene as the search continues. The spokesperson said the search will continue until both boys are found.

A 38-year-old woman from Winnipeg drowned at the same site last June, and a 12-year-old boy drowned there in May 2023.

Sturgeon Falls is located approximately 110 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg and lies between Nutimik Lake and Numao Lake.