Search suspended after woman swept away in Mamquam River near Squamish, B.C.

A search near Squamish, B.C., for a woman who was swept away by the Mamquam River on Sunday, has been suspended.

Squamish Search and Rescue search manager Cindy Welsh said the woman, a visitor to Canada, had entered the river to swim when the incident happened around 4:15 p.m. Sunday.

Her group called 911, and search-and-rescue crews mobilized along with RCMP, firefighters, paramedics and both drone and helicopter crews to search from the air.

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“We ran out of light and we had to bring our teams in,” Welsh said.

The search resumed Monday with aerial and kayak crews searching the upper river.

“It’s phenomenally complex terrain, very, very steep cliffs,” Welsh said.

“At areas of the river, it comes to extremely narrow choke points. Lots of rock, lots of white water.”

Ground crews were deployed to the banks of the Lower Mamquam where the terrain is walkable, and the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue covered the river mouth by Squamish.