Cultus Lake drowning victim identified as international student
Posted July 27, 2020 8:04 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CULTUS LAKE (NEWS 1130) — A young man who lost his life at a popular B.C. lake over the weekend is part of a concerning trend happening in other parts of Canada.
Manpreet Singh was a 22-year-old international student from India studying at Surrey’s Kwantlen Polytechnic University. On Saturday, he and nine of his friends went to Cultus Lake in Chilliwack.
The young men were wading in chest-high water when Manpreet and another friend found themselves in danger.
“Suddenly there was a steep down,” says Shehbaaz Riar, a friend of Manpreet.
RELATED: Man dies after drowning in Cultus Lake
A drop-off meant the men could no longer touch the bottom, and a bystander noticed the pair was drowning.
“One person came and he dived in the water,” Riar says. “He saved my first friend.”
But Manpreet could not be saved. Beachgoers and police spent 45 minutes trying to locate him in the water.
“And then the divers came. And with the help of them and volunteers, we got him. We got his body,” Riar tells CityNews.
On the same day Manpreet died, an Indian international student living in Calgary fell into a river near Lake Louise while posing for a photo. Gagandeep Khalsa is still missing.
Watch: Cultus Lake drowning victim identified as international student
In Nova Scotia last Month – Indian student Sidharth Assija drowned – while swimming in a Halifax lake.
Friends of Manpreet say when it comes to Canadian waters, many international students don’t know what they’re getting themselves into.
“We can say the students are not aware of the place, the water, the swimming, or of anything,” Riar says.
Bruce Hayne, executive director of Boating BC Association, says it’s important to have a life vest on and be aware of one’s surroundings.
“Getting on the water is a wonderful way to recreate and enjoy our province, but we have to be smart about it,” he says.
Unfortunately, Manpreet was not wearing a life vest.
“We’ve learned that first of all, it’s safety. We should be responsible for our own lives,” Riar says.
