The raging storm that touched down in this part of the province on Thursday, July 20 may have played a part in tragedy as two men said to be from the Elbow area drowned after their boat capsized on the north part of Lake Diefenbaker.
Chief Glen Amor of the Elbow Volunteer Fire Department said a call was received at 8:15 pm from two kayakers on the lake who reported a boat going down.
One of the kayakers, who works as a paramedic, pulled one of the men to shore and administered CPR, but it was found that he had already died.
The Elbow fire department joined in the search for the boat and the second man, with Chief Amor and local business owner Bryan Cafferata using a pontoon boat from the Elbow marina to scan the lake and try to locate anything related to the disappearance.
The search turned out minimal results, with a couple of cushions and paddles being recovered, and the storm played a part in shutting down their efforts on Thursday night. The team stopped at around 11:30.
It was said that the waves were reaching heights of between 1.2 to 1.8 metres during the storm. Cafferata, who owns Lakeside Marina Service, said searchers did what they could under the turbulent circumstances.
Cafferata told media that the debris found on Thursday night indicated to him that it may have been a smaller and older boat that capsized.
STARS Air Ambulance attempted to aid in the search, but the storm prevented the helicopter from even being dispatched to the lake area.
On Friday morning at approximately 8:00 am, the search team discovered the body of the second man, who was found face down in the water, according to Chief Amor.
Both of the men were wearing life-jackets at the time the tragedy occurred.
The RCMP say the investigation is ongoing at the time this issue went to press, and they couldn't confirm whether the stormy weather was a contributing factor.
The names of the two males were not being released until their families were notified.
