A 34-year-old man who was camped outside Tuesday night died in downtown Kelowna.
It was around 10:50 p.m., on Dec. 28, when bylaw officers conducted a well-being check on a group of homeless people staying in the 1400 block of Pandosy Street, near the Queensway Bus Loop.
RCMP said the officers located the man, who was unresponsive and immediately began life-saving measures, including administering CPR and naloxone.
Emergency Health Services then transported him to Kelowna General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
The cause of death is not yet known, but is not considered suspicious and the investigation has been turned over to the BC Coroners Service.
“Officers within our (Community Safety Unit) get to know our marginalized clients who are living on the streets and they are deeply saddened with this loss,” Cpl. Tammy Lobb said in a press release. “Our thoughts are with the man’s family at this difficult time.”
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Roughly 35 to 50 people are sleeping outside in Kelowna, according to a morning time count done by the city.
Since temperatures plummeted around the Okanagan to at times lower than -20 C, RCMP and bylaw officers have been conducting well-being checks for people who are out in the cold. They’ve worked to find shelter beds, assisting in the co-ordination of transportation to shelters and providing warm clothing.
Shelters have also been working to create more space and the temporary overnight shelter at the Kelowna Unitarian church.
“We’re hoping to have it open by January 4,” said Phil Whatman, Kelowna Gospel Mission’s shelter manager.
“Transition this church into a temporary shelter for those sleeping outside.”
Temporary overnight shelter locations are extremely hard to come by, according to the Mission. The Unitarians reached out to the non-profit organization to offer their church as a shelter site.
-with files from Darrian Matassa Fung
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