British Columbia

Divers searching Buntzen Lake for missing 19-year-old Surrey man

The RCMP dive team is searching the waters of Buntzen Lake for a missing 19-year-old Surrey, B.C., man who went missing Tuesday afternoon.

Man was with a group of 5 friends on flotation devices on the lake

An RCMP dive team prepares to search Buntzen Lake near Anmore, B.C., for a missing Surrey man who disappeared while swimming on Tuesday afternoon. (Yvette Brend/CBC)

The RCMP dive team is searching the waters of Buntzen Lake for a missing 19-year-old Surrey, B.C., man who went missing Tuesday afternoon.

RCMP were first called to the lake near Anmore, B.C., around 4:30 p.m. PT yesterday when the man's friends noticed he was no longer in sight.

Police then called in Coquitlam Search and Rescue, which used 20 crew members and two boats to search the lake until 10 p.m.

Buntzen Lake was closed to the public on Wednesday morning while divers searched the water for a missing Surrey man. (Yvette Brend/CBC)

Not a strong swimmer

The group of five young people were hanging out in the lake on recreational flotation devices when the man, who was not a strong swimmer, disappeared, said Cpl. Michael McLaughlin on Wednesday morning.

Nobody saw the man struggling, he said. Nobody was drinking or doing drugs and foul play is not suspected, said McLaughlin.

Police suspect it's now a recovery operation and Buntzen Lake remains closed while divers try to locate the missing man.

The apparent drowning is the third in B.C. in recent days as many hit the water to cool off in the hot summer weather.

Buntzen Lake is a popular recreation area north of Port Moody, B.C. (Shutterstock)

Read more from CBC British Columbia

With fles from Yvette Brend