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People parasail on Okanagan Lake as motorists travel over the William R. Bennett Bridge, in Kelowna, B.C., on Saturday, May 30, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
By The Canadian Press

Two men presumed to have drowned in B.C. Interior lakes

Jul 13, 2026 | 11:38 AM

WEST KELOWNA — Two men are missing and presumed drowned in British Columbia’s Okanagan and Shuswap regions in separate cases.

In West Kelowna, police say a 45-year-old man was in an inflatable tube while being towed behind a boat in Okanagan Lake on Saturday when he fell off and was seen struggling in the water.

Police say the man was not wearing a life-jacket, and the boat operator who jumped in to try to save him had to be rescued himself by another nearby boat.

It follows a case on Mara Lake near Sicamous in the Shuswap region on Friday, when a group of friends on a boat filed a missing person’s report after noticing one man from the party was missing.

Search efforts have failed to find the men and both are presumed to have drowned with recovery efforts ongoing.

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There have been a number of drownings in B.C. involving boating in recent months, including the sinking of a fishing charter off Metro Vancouver on June 28 that is presumed to have claimed seven lives as well as the death of an American kayaker on Okanagan Lake on June 19.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2026.

The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

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