Divers searching Cultus Lake after potential drowning

Docks along the shore of Cutus Lake. (Cultus Lake Community Association)

A young man who jumped into Cultus Lake Wednesday to try to save someone he thought was drowning never resurfaced, according to authorities.

First responders were called to the lake just after 5 p.m. Wednesday for reports of a potential drowning, according to a statement from the Chilliwack RCMP.

“Witnesses advised that a man in his early 20s entered the water in an attempt to rescue his friend whom he believed to be drowning, but he himself did not know how to swim,” spokesperson Sgt. Krysta Vrolyk said in an email to CTV News.

“The man went underwater and has yet to resurface. Cries for help alerted nearby boaters, jet skiers and swimmers who attempted to locate the man.”

After this article was published, a friend of the suspected drowning victim reached out to CTV News to say that police had shared incorrect information about the young man. The friend says the victim was 23 years old, not 21, and that he did know how to swim.

CTV News has reached out to the Chilliwack RCMP for clarification.

A search by the RCMP’s underwater recovery team is ongoing.

Eighty-six people in B.C. died by accidental drowning last year, according to new data released by the coroner's service that sheds light on trends in the province over the past 10 years.

The number of deaths in 2022 was higher than the ten-year average, which was 76, and represented the second-highest annual total in the past decade. In 2020, there were 87 accidental drownings.