Two men dead following separate drownings in Manitoba

(File Photo)

WINNIPEG -

Two men died in two separate drownings that took place five days apart, according to the Manitoba RCMP.

The first drowning happened on July 15 around 8:50 p.m. at Reston Lake in Reston, Man.

Mounties said a man was swimming in the lake with his family. However, when the family got out of the water, he wasn’t with them. The family started searching and called the police.

The local fire department came to the scene and searched the water. Officers with the RCMP and Manitoba First Nations Police Service, as well as other emergency personnel, searched the surrounding area. The fire department and rescue team from Virden and Oak Lake also came to help search.

A few hours later, a 39-year-old man from Canupawakpa was found under water and brought to shore. He was pronounced dead.

The second drowning took place on July 20 around 4:30 p.m. at the Kenton Dam at the Kenton Campground in the RM of Wallace-Woodworth.

When RCMP got to the scene, they were told the man had been seen swimming alone. The witnesses added that they had left the dam, but came back half an hour later to find the man was gone but his dog and car were still there.

Mounties began to search the shore as well as by boat for a number of hours, but the man was not found.

The RCMP’s underwater recovery team came to the scene, found the man, and brought him to shore. The 52-year-old man from Kenton was pronounced dead.