Overview

• A 19-year-old hiker fell into the fast-flowing Coquihalla River near the Tunnels at about 6 p.m. on Saturday and remains unaccounted for.
• RCMP officers from Hope, K9 units, local search and rescue volunteers, the District of Hope Fire Department and paramedics led an extensive riverbank search.
• A bystander who attempted to reach the missing man became stranded on a ledge and was evacuated by a search-and-rescue raft.
• Drone flights failed to locate any trace of the hiker and divers concluded that strong currents and steep canyon walls make an immediate recovery unsafe.
• BC Parks has closed the Othello Tunnels indefinitely as authorities prepare a coordinated operation to retrieve the presumed-drowned man.