Hope Volunteer Search and Rescue and Chilliwack Search and Rescue are looking for a person who was seen floating in the Coquihalla River Thursday, July 2, 2020. (Google Maps)

Hope Volunteer Search and Rescue and Chilliwack Search and Rescue are looking for a person who was seen floating in the Coquihalla River Thursday, July 2, 2020. (Google Maps)

Search continues for person seen floating in Coquihalla River in Hope

Rescuers halted the search Thursday night as darkness fell

  • Jul. 3, 2020 12:00 a.m.

A search on the Coquihalla River has resumed today after efforts to locate a person in the water failed on Thursday.

RCMP were called to the scene around 4:15 p.m. on July 2 after a person said they saw what they believed to be a body floating down the river near the Othello Tunnels, said RCMP Sgt. Krista Vrolyk.

Minutes later other witnesses said they saw a man attempting to cross the river on an inner tube, but that he didn’t make it across to the other side.

The two sightings are believed to be the same person, Vrolyk added.

Members of Hope Volunteer Search and Rescue and Chilliwack Search and Rescue searched the river from Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park and downstream.

RCMP and the two Search and Rescue teams have been conducting both ground and air searches for the man since Thursday afternoon.

It is an “extensive search by a lot of community partners,” Vrolyk said.

The search was called off last night as darkness fell. A member of Hope Volunteer Search and Rescue confirmed Friday morning that they had resumed the search today with Chilliwack Search and Rescue.

READ MORE: Rescuers halt Coquihalla River search due to darkness, after reports of person in river


 

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Hope Standard