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Passengers rescued from Okanagan Lake after boat takes on water

Central Okanagan Search and Rescue was called out twice on Tuesday evening

Central Okanagan Search and Rescue was called out twice Tuesday night to help people in distress.

Sometime after 7 p.m. Sept. 1, crews were asked to assist RCMP in locating a boat with navigation lights on, adrift on Okanagan Lake near Cedar Creek Dog Park.

A resident spotted the boat and called police concerned there was an issue on-board.

Kelowna resident Crystal Morello was a passenger on the boat when the wind picked up and the vessel began to experience engine failure.

“It started taking on water and we had to be rescued,” she wrote on social media. “It was the scariest moment of my life. It was the wrong windy night to have an engine fail.”

Morello along with the other passengers was safely brought ashore, but the boat was abandoned on the lake.

According to Rob Braun with search and rescue, police arrived at the boat to discover contents that indicated multiple people were on board at one point it was then that search crews were asked to look for the passengers.

However, police managed to track down the owner of the boat and confirm everyone was safe.

The boat was brought to shore and tied up near the dog park.

Earlier in the evening about 6 p.m., search and rescue were alerted to an injured mountain biker on Casino Royal at the Gillard trails, located in the area of the Kettle Valley Railway.

The biker was safely rescued from the trail.

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