One man is dead and two other people taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries following a tubing accident on the Stamp River, northwest of Port Alberni, Sunday afternoon, July 15.
Emergency crews were called to a popular launch area on the river below Stamp Falls and Stamp River Provincial Park sometime after 3 p.m. The Alberni Valley Rescue Squad's swift water rescue team was also dispatched.
Coroner Willem Van Herk confirmed one deceased male was recovered from the river, but could not say the exact location. He commended volunteers from both the Beaver Creek Fire Department and Alberni Valley Rescue Squad for their efforts in the rescue and recovery.
Van Herk and volunteers had to walk more than half an hour into the site between Beaver Creek Road and the river. "That's an onerous task to come up trails like that," he said.
B.C. Ambulance Service spokesperson Catherine Bianco said they dispatched three ambulances from Port Alberni's station as well as a BCAS helicopter to the scene just before 4 p.m. Two patients were transported to West Coast General Hospital with non life-threatening injuries, she said. The helicopter was not used.
Bianco could not confirm whether both patients were female, as other media have reported.
The Port Alberni RCMP will release more information in the morning. Follow the story at www.albernivalleynews.com.
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