Chilliwack, Kent-Harrison, and Mission Search and Rescue crews are currently combing the Fraser River for a boater who went into the water when his boat capsized Friday morning.
Kent-Harrison Search and Rescue president Marv Anderson said the man went into the water at about 5:45 a.m., just north of the Agassiz-Rosedale bridge. A second person who was in the boat managed to swim ashore and walk to get help.
“The other man disappeared,” Anderson said.
RCMP confirmed that a 911 call came in 6:38 a.m. from a fisherman that his fishing partner had fallen into the Fraser one hour earlier. The two fishers were setting out drift nets when the 12-foot skiff they were standing in destabilized and overturned. They both swam for shore but only one made it.
Crews started their search just before 7 a.m. and Anderson said they will search until RCMP call it off. They have been searching the water by boat, jet skis and helicopter, in the areas between Hatzic Lake and Agassiz. The focus currently is in the Peg Leg and Island 22 area near Chilliwack.
The air search was called off shortly after it began due to dense clouds in the area. Anderson said the river is a difficult area to search, due to limited visibility.
“You always hope he’s crawled up on a riverbank and that’s where we checked first,” Anderson said. The man was not reportedly wear a life vest.
Kent-Harrison SAR is the command crew for this search, set up just north of the Agassiz-Rosedale bridge where numerous members of the community are awaiting any news on the missing man. The boat was found down the river in the late morning.
He is presumed dead, but the search will be continued Saturday.
Watch this website for updates to this developing story.
