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Penticton  

Channel crash fatality

UPDATE: 4:20 p.m.

Penticton RCMP have confirmed that a man pulled from a submerged pickup in the Okanagan River Channel has died since being taken to hospital.

Police are withholding the identity of the man while next of kin are notified of his passing.

A search and rescue team found no other occupants of the vehicle in a search of the channel, but according to Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth, it's uncertain if there were other occupants of the vehicle.

South Okanagan Traffic Services is currently investigating, and police note that speed appears to have been a factor in the crash.


UPDATE: 11:20 a.m.

A man pulled from a submerged vehicle in the Okanagan River Channel in Penticton was unconscious when taken to hospital early this morning, according to Penticton Fire Rescue.

A fire department crew was dispatched to the south end of the channel at 3:28 a.m.

"The vehicle had not negotiated the turn and went through the railing into the water," said Deputy Chief Chris Forster.

Using jet skis, crew members were able to locate the male victim and haul him out of the water.

"They immediately began medical aid to the victim," Forster said.

He said the man was unconscious when taken to Penticton Regional Hospital.

Meanwhile a search continued into the daylight hours just in case there were other victims of the accident in the channel.

"Search and rescue was called out because we could not confirm if there was anyone else in the vehicle but by the time we left there was no indication anyone else was in the water."

 
–with files from Jon Manchester
 

Original story

A pickup plunged into the Okanagan River Channel in Penticton overnight.

Penticton Fire Rescue, RCMP and paramedics responded to the incident about 3:30 a.m.

The vehicle went into the water at the intersection of Channel Parkway and Skaha Lake Road.

The grey Toyota Tacoma was on its side about 30 feet from shore after going through the barricade wall off the bridge on Channel Parkway.

It was unclear if anyone made it out of the vehicle to shore, so firefighters launched their SeaDoo rescue craft and found a male victim inside the truck.

They broke a window to get the male out of the water.

CPR was started immediately on the victim, and it is currently unknown if he survived.

Penticton Search and Rescue was called to the scene to check if there are any other victims.

The Parkway and Skaha intersection was closed to traffic early this morning although it has since reopened, according to witnesses.

However, the investigation continued as the sun rose with search and rescue and RCMP on the scene with a search boat.



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