RCMP in Tuktoyaktuk say a person has drowned during an incident involving a snowmobile on the Arctic Ocean outside the community.
In a statement on Thursday, police said officers were called to the scene, near Reindeer Point, just before 7pm on Canada Day.
“Two persons were trying to skip their snowmobile across the water on a section of the ocean when the snowmobile sank,” RCMP stated.
“Multiple witnesses observed one person submerged. The other person was able to swim to shore, uninjured.”
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RCMP said volunteer firefighters, officers and members of the community organized a search operation by boat.
“About 20 minutes later, as the victim still had not resurfaced, the possibility of drowning was confirmed and first responders refocused their efforts on recovering the body,” police stated.
“The victim, a 32-year-old male, was located about one hour later approximately 6 meters from the submerged snowmobile.”
Nobody involved was named by police. RCMP said the NWT coroner’s office is investigating.
