1 dead after submerged vehicle found on Vancouver Island

An RCMP patch is seen on the shoulder of Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards, Officer in Charge of the Surrey RCMP, during a news conference about the city's municipal police force transition, in Surrey, B.C., on Friday, April 28, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

One person is dead after a vehicle was found submerged at the bottom of a highway embankment on northern Vancouver Island over the weekend.

Mounties in Campbell River responded in the early hours of Sunday morning to a report of a vehicle that had apparently veered off the roadway and travelled down an embankment.

A driver noticed highway barriers were out of place along Highway 28 between Campbell River and the Strathcona Park Lodge around 12:30 a.m., the local RCMP detachment said in a statement.

Further investigation located the vehicle fully submerged under water with one person dead.

"There is no indication that anyone else was involved in the crash," the statement said.

Investigators say the cause of the crash remains unknown and the investigation is still in its early stages.

An RCMP dive team and volunteers from Campbell River Search and Rescue were expected to return to the scene this week to recover the vehicle and the body of the deceased, police said.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the crash to contact Campbell River RCMP investigators at 250-286-6221.