Dramatic rescues, at least one death over holiday weekend

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Dramatic rescues, at least one death over holiday weekend
Search for missing man in Lynn Creek called off

Cheryl Chan and Joe Couture
The Province

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Sunshine sent thousands of people to the water to cool off over the Canada Day holiday, leading to dramatic rescues and at least one death.

A man swimming off the White Rock pier was rescued yesterday after reports came in about a "swimmer in difficulty," said Andy Howell at the Victoria Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre.

Members of the Canadian Coast Guard and Canadian Forces used a hovercraft and helicopter to rescue the man. He was transported to hospital and is expected to be OK.

Howell said the centre received a couple of water-related calls yesterday: "It's really hot and people might be cooling off in the waters."

Two teens who fell from an inner tube into the Coquitlam River on Monday night managed to swim to a nearby rock. But they were unable to fight the current to get to shore on their own.

Coquitlam Fire Rescue was called to the river near Sultan Place and Lambert Way at about 10:30 p.m., and helped the boys to safety.

"They were just trying to have fun, and they wiped out and got stuck on a rock," said Shane MacKichan, a freelance photographer who heard the fire department call and went to the scene.

"The teenagers were tubing, they fell off, they became trapped on that rock and it was way too-fast moving water to try to walk out of there. And it was cold and dark. So the fire department had to go and do a swift-water rescue."

At Bowron Lake, about 100 kilometres southeast of Prince George, a 60-year-old man who had been hiking and paddling was evacuated Monday with severe chest pain.

A 442 Squadron Cormorant helicopter from Comox hoisted him aboard in a rescue basket and flew him to hospital in Prince George.

His condition was unknown last night.

In North Vancouver, the search for Andrew Koch, 26, of North Vancouver, washed away in Lynn Creek on Sunday, was called off yesterday.

"It's a matter of recovery at this point," said RCMP Cpl. Randall Wong. "Hope has diminished because search and rescue have walked pretty much every portion of the bank where he went in and there's no sign of him anywhere."

Rescuers believe Koch's body is trapped underwater by strong currents caused by rapid snowmelt and hot temperatures. They believe he will surface when the water recedes.

Wong said Koch was with friends in Lynn Canyon Park "enjoying the waters" when they decided to cross the river. Koch lost his footing and was swept away by the undertow.

"Initially they caught him hanging on to some . . . branches," said Wong. "His friends tried to pull him out of the water but they couldn't. The current pushed him under the trees that were overhanging and that's the last they saw of him."

Searchers concentrated on an area called 30 Foot Pool, north of the suspension bridge and downstream of where Koch slipped.

Tom Jansen and his two kids were among a small crowd at 30 Foot Pool yesterday, watching people cool off by jumping from the cliffs into the cool emerald waters below.

"[The water's] beautiful but it can be deadly," said Jansen, who has been coming to the park for over a decade. "You hear of hikers or people drowning or having to be rescued here all the time."

Lynn Canyon has seen numerous rescues and 22 deaths since 1980.


CREDIT: Jason Payne - The Province
Bathers cliff-jump yesterday at 30 Foot Pool, just downstream from where 26-year-old Andrew Koch was swept away while trying to cross swollen Lynn Creek on Sunday. The search for the missing man has been called off by North Vancouver RCMP.

chchan@png.canwest.com

jcouture@png.canwest.com