Two men missing in water mishaps

Searchers look for pair of swimmers

CLARA HO

Searches continued Thursday for two missing swimmers presumed drowned after separate mishaps in southern Alberta on Wednesday night.

RCMP officers, members of the Kananaskis emergency services and conservation officers scoured an area outside Canmore in search of a 21-year-old Calgary man who disappeared under water near the Seebe Dam around 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The man was cliff diving with a female friend. As they swam down the Bow River, they had difficulty and were aided by a second group of cliff divers in the area, said RCMP.

The female swimmer made it to shore safely, but the man became more distressed and disappeared underwater. Attempts to save him were unsuccessful.

The search was called off around 3:30 p.m. Thursday and slated to resume Friday morning with the assistance of a contracted commercial dive team, said Cochrane RCMP Cpl. Gary Fedrau.

Meanwhile, Lethbridge fire and rescue divers remained at the scene of an irrigation canal for much of the day after a 22-year-old Coaldale man slipped under the waters the night before.

The man and five friends were sliding down a concrete irrigation canal chute, dropping about 45 metres into the water, in the Raymond area south of Lethbridge around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday when the man went into distress.

Raymond RCMP Sgt. Kelly McCoy said the man was a non-swimmer and unable to get out of the water.

“Attempts were made to rescue him and before they got to him, he went missing under the surface of the water,” McCoy said.

There have been 12 drowning deaths in Alberta so far this year, according to figures from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.