Search crews returned to Alexander Wilderness Park on Saturday morning for day two of the search for a male teen who was swept up by the Oldman River on Friday night.
Six members of the Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services dive team were out on the water closely checking the river bottom for anything that could help them find the teen.
The deputy fire chief said it’s unlikely he is alive and crews have changed the search from a rescue mission to a recovery mission.
“We’ve got a pretty good idea of where we believe that he may be. That’s where they’re going to be concentrating their search and we’ll go from there,” Dana Terry said.
He noted officials had limited their search area to a 100-yard stretch along the Oldman River where it bends around the park.
Terry said the water levels in the river have dropped over the last couple of days with warm temperatures and hoped that would aid search teams. But he noted the Oldman River is very murky and can vary in depth from several inches to 20 feet.
The Lethbridge Police Service said it notified the family of the teen and would provide more information following the results of the mission.
Meanwhile, fire crews noted this should be a warning to anyone planning on spending time on or near the river this summer.
“I don’t know what happened in this particular instance, but we see a lot of people without life jackets and this is a … reminder that the river is dangerous,” Terry said.
On Friday evening, crews were forced to shut down the search at around 11 p.m. after first being called at around 7:30 p.m.
Two youths were in the river when one began to struggle.
An adult who was with them jumped into the river to try and help the youth who was swept into the river.
Firefighters have since closed Alexander Wilderness Park to the public as the mission continues.
-With files from Tom Roulston and Liam Nixon.
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