Ambulance Plunges Into Lake – Crew Missing and Feared Dead

Update:  Crew recovered from ambulance.  Scroll down.
Update #2:  Medics were not full-time employees of BCAS.
Update #3:  More photos added.
Update #4:  Confirmed fatalities.
Update #5:  Video added.  Scroll down.

A BRITISH COLUMBIA AMBULANCE SERVICE unit that was reported missing Tuesday morning has been found in Kennedy Lake.  The two crew members have not been seen and are feared to have perished. 

Kennedy Lake is located near the western coast of Vancouver Island.

The Canadian Press is reporting:

The B.C. Ambulance Service notified police around 7:30 a.m. (Pacific time) that one of its crews had left Tofino around 4:30 a.m. and failed to arrive in Port Alberni as scheduled.

“We were asked to assist in locating an overdue crew. They weren’t able to make any contacts through pager or cell phone.”  Port Alberni Police Sergeant Kevin Murray said.  The partially submerged vehicle was located by a highways worker who noticed a “debris path off-road near Kennedy Lake,” he said.

The debris path that alerted the searchers
can be seen in the center of this photo provided by CTV.

At last report the police had a dive team en route to the location to search for “the presence of occupants in the vehicle.”

The ambulance was found submerged in about 20 feet of water.  (CTV image)

Police and fire rescue teams stage at Kennedy Lake accident site.
(Westerly News / Seccia photo)

Update, 5 pm Eastern:
Shortly after 1 pm Pacific (4 Eastern) it was reported that the two crew members had been recovered from the icy waters by the dive team.  It has not yet been disclosed whether or not they were inside the ambulance when they were located.

Update #2 –  5:45 pm Eastern:
The Vancouver Sun was told that the paramedics at the ambulance station where the unit is based are part-time employees and may have worked their regular jobs on Monday before taking their shift at the ambulance.  Their return trip from the hospital was lengthy and time consuming alone a narrow and winding road cut on a rock ledge with a steep incline from the road about 100 feet down to the lake.

The RCMP has not yet confirmed that the victims have been retrieved, nor their mortality.  But The Province newspaper is reporting:

BJ Chute, spokesperson for Ambulance Paramedics of BC, confirmed the deaths by phone to The Province after hearing from members at the lake, though the RCMP have not yet confirmed that the bodies have been recovered. He did not know the victims identities, but said he was catching a plane to the scene Tuesday afternoon.

Update, 7:30 pm:
The local RCMP office confirmed that the divers recovered the two missing paramedics this afternoon from the submerged ambulance.  There is one male and one female victim.

Update, Wednesday am:

The good, informative video report was filed by A-News in Vancouver:

The Vancouver Sun has posted some additional information on how the accident site was located HERE.