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One man dead after boating incident
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EmERgENCy CREWs and bystanders pluck two men from westwood lake.
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Tentative agreement could see passenger rail return to Island
By Chris Bush
By Karl yu
The News BulleTiN
The News BulleTiN
One man has died after he was airlifted to Victoria General Hospital when he and his fishing partner fell out of a boat at Westwood Lake. Barb McLintock, of the B.C. Coroners Office, confirmed that the hospital reported to her office Wednesday morning that the victim, a man in his early 60s, had died. No other information was available by press time. Emergency services rushed to Westwood Lake shortly after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday after receiving multiple calls from witnesses on shore and on the water, some of whom rushed to help the men. Witnesses said one man fell in the water and his partner dove in after him, retrieved him and was struggling to hold him on the surface as two other men rushed in to help. The incapacitated man had been underwater about four minutes before he was brought to the surface. Kayla Green, 18, and two friends were on a bluff nearby when they heard cries for help. “We saw the boat and we heard them fall in and a couple moments later we heard them cry out for help,” Green said. Green called 911 and ran back to the main beach to guide emergency crews to the site. “We saw a couple other people trying to help out at the shore,” Green said. The girls did not see the men wearing any life-jackets. Chris Allison, 24, and a friend were walking around the lake when he saw two men in the water.
A tentative deal between Southern Railway and Via Rail could see the return of rail passenger service to Vancouver Island. The new deal, announced at a press conference yesterday, will allow the Island Corridor Foundation and Southern Railway to access more than $20 million in funding for track and bridge improvements through the partnership of federal, provincial and regional governments, according to foundation cochairwoman Mary Ashley. Freight and train operations will be based out of There’s much Nanaimo and will work to do run as far north as Courtenay and before the south as Victoria, passenger train including an earlymorning route whistle blows to the provincial capital. again. The schedule will have to go through some adjustments, however, and there is no set date for when everything will be up and running, said Ashley. “There’s much work to do before the passenger train whistle blows again,” said Ashley. “The agreement is to be ratified by the three respective boards, funding agreements will be signed off, tendering and awarding of bids will proceed and there will be approximately nine months of track work.” The foundation has stated that it will cost more than $100 million for repairs. Island Corridor Foundation chief executive officer Graham Bruce said the repairs will come incrementally over the next few years.
See ‘BYSTANDERS’ /4
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CHRIS BUSH/THe NewS BUlleTIN
Emergency crews perform CPR on a man who fell from a boat at Westwood Lake in Nanaimo Tuesday. The man was airlifted to hospital in Victoria and later died.
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