A potential triple drowning was averted early Sunday when Osoyoos RCMP and several tourists rescued three intoxicated partiers swept out into Osoyoos Lake.
Police say they received a call around 1:43 a.m. that several people had jumped off the bridge on Main Street and were swept by currents out into the lake.
The three – two females and one male – were not wearing life jackets and were screaming for help in the dark as the current carried them more than half way to Haynes Point.
Police responded in their boat while two officers obtained help from a civilian who had a boat close by, and the two boats engaged in a search.
Meanwhile, three men on shore heard the screams for help and paddled out in a small dingy. The men were able to pull a 24-year-old woman from Grand Forks into the dingy as the rescue boats arrived, Osoyoos RCMP say.
A 28-year-old man from Kelowna was located and was thrown a life vest to stay afloat as he struggled to stay above water. When he was later pulled to safety into the police boat, he was in an exhausted condition.
A second 28-year-old female from Kelowna was pulled to safety on the private rescue boat from the side of the dingy where she was keeping afloat.
The three rescued people were taken to awaiting B.C. Ambulance paramedics who examined them on shore. All three were cold, but suffered no injuries and so were released, RCMP say.
The three are very fortunate to have been located and rescued in the dark, said Sgt. Kevin Schur, Osoyoos RCMP Area Commander in a statement. Alcohol and water are a bad combination and had it not been for the quick response and efforts from the men from shore with the dingy, the private boat and operator, and the police officers with their boat, this could have ended in a triple tragedy, Schur said.
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