Coroners Service urges caution as drownings up this summer
Posted August 24, 2012 3:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS1130) – A big spike in drownings this summer has the BC Coroner’s Service warning you to be more careful around lakes and rivers.
Thirty-four people have died between Canada Day and this past Tuesday, which is an increase of more than 50 per cent compared to last year. Twenty-nine of those victims were men.
Coroner Barb McLintock says some people died because they fell into the water unexpectedly, others were tubing, rafting or cliff-diving.
“Water is just not as safe as you might like to think, it really does require a little bit of extra care and a little bit of extra forethought. We would be far from saying that all of these drownings were preventable but we certainly suspect looking at them that a number of them would.”
Her best piece of advice, is if you are out on a boat, have the right equipment on board and wear a life-jacket. “People think the great way to spend the weekend is at the beach or doing water-related activities, and it is a great way but you just have to do it safely.”
It’s unclear if booze was involved in any of the cases.
