Close X
Sunday, October 27, 2024
ADVT 
National

One dead, another missing after Vancouver Island road washout

Darpan News Desk IANS, 21 Oct, 2024 01:13 PM
  • One dead, another missing after Vancouver Island road washout
 

Police on the west coast of Vancouver Island say one person has been found dead and another is missing after a road washout near Bamfield. 

RCMP in Port Alberni say a truck was found fully submerged in the Sarita River Saturday night after a "washout," and the body of the driver was later found nearby.

The Mounties say a second vehicle has also been found in the river, and it's believed the other missing person is inside, while search and rescue personnel are waiting for an opportunity to conduct a swift-water recovery.

They say one of the drivers was travelling from Bamfield to Victoria and the other was driving from Port Alberni to Bamfield, and both were reported missing Saturday evening when they failed to arrive at their destinations.

The death comes after police in Coquitlam say a 57-year-old woman was found dead Sunday when her home was swept away in a mudslide caused by record-setting rain that drenched British Columbia's south coast over the weekend.

Coquitlam RCMP say officers responded to the slide near Pinecone Burke Provincial Park midday on Saturday, and found one home had been "swept away."

On Vancouver Island, RCMP say they used cellphone towers to locate one of the missing drivers within a three kilometre radius of the 58-kilometre mark of Bamfield Road.

A helicopter was deployed, along with Alberni Valley Search and Rescue, but it was a family member of the missing driver who spotted the truck just before 9 p.m.

RCMP say the darkness and fast-flowing water prevented emergency personnel from confirming whether the vehicle was occupied, and the body of the missing driver was later found a short distance away.

Environment Canada figures show Coquitlam was among the hardest hit by the rain over the weekend, receiving 256 millimetres between Friday and Sunday night.

RCMP say they have notified the family of the mudslide victim, but would not provide more details about the slide and its "deeply tragic" outcome.

MORE National ARTICLES

Deadly shooting in Edmonton

Deadly shooting in Edmonton
Police say an autopsy shows the victim, 56-year-old Buta Singh, died from a gunshot wound. The suspected shooter, who was 49, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound but has not been named. Police say they're checking to see if the shooting is connected to a string of extortion schemes targeting homebuilders in the city's South Asian community.

Deadly shooting in Edmonton

B.C. plans law allowing police to arrest or ticket over school disruptions

B.C. plans law allowing police to arrest or ticket over school disruptions
Premier David Eby says there has been at least 18 such protests at schools, and the law would stop people from blocking access, attempting to intimidate another person or disrupting school activities, such as banging on classroom windows.   

B.C. plans law allowing police to arrest or ticket over school disruptions

Drinking in public plazas for Vancouver

Drinking in public plazas for Vancouver
Vancouver's city council is extending a program that allows people to drink alcohol in certain plazas until May 2025.  The city says the program has gone ahead successfully for four years. 

Drinking in public plazas for Vancouver

1 dead in Victoria stabbing

1 dead in Victoria stabbing
Police in Victoria are looking for witnesses to come forward after a man was fatally stabbed. Officers were called to the scene shortly before midnight last night and found the man suffering from stab wounds.  

1 dead in Victoria stabbing

B.C. doesn't know where all its groundwater is going. Experts worry as drought looms

B.C. doesn't know where all its groundwater is going. Experts worry as drought looms
Growing up on a ranch in the Columbia River Valley, water has always been part of Kat Hartwig's life, and over the years, she's noticed changes. Marshy areas her family used for irrigation or watering cattle are dry, wetlands are becoming "crunchy" rather than spongy underfoot, and snowmelt is disappearing more quickly each spring, ushering in the dry summer months, Hartwig says.

B.C. doesn't know where all its groundwater is going. Experts worry as drought looms

Health minister compares dentists' 'fears' on dental-care program to medicare rollout

Health minister compares dentists' 'fears' on dental-care program to medicare rollout
Health Minister Mark Holland says "concerns and fears" dentists are expressing about a national dental-care plan are similar to those doctors had when Canada launched medicare in the 1960s. He is defending his government's back-and-forth negotiations with dentists after dental associations said some of their members are hesitant to participate.

Health minister compares dentists' 'fears' on dental-care program to medicare rollout