British Columbia

Man drowns while swimming off boat in Howe Sound: police

RCMP said officers were called to help retrieve a man "in medical distress" from the water off the northern tip of Keats Island around 4 p.m. PT Sunday.

Man in 40s went into 'medical distress' while in the water near Keats Island, RCMP say

An RCMP vessel is seen in this file photo from 2015. Mounties said a man in his 40s drowned Sunday while swimming near B.C.'s Keats Island. (Michael McArthur/CBC)

A man has drowned while swimming near Keats Island in B.C.'s Howe Sound after he chartered a boat with friends.

RCMP said officers were called to help retrieve a man "in medical distress" from the water off the northern tip of the island around 4 p.m. PT Sunday.

Police met paramedics at the government dock in nearby Gibsons, but the man was declared dead.

A statement from RCMP said the man was in his 40s and lived in Richmond, B.C. Police said he had been swimming for "a few minutes before he was found in distress."

Keats Island is a small island off the shore of Gibsons and directly west of Bowen Island.

The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating the man's death.