DRYDEN – NEWS – Dryden OPP report that on June 4th at approximately 5:15 p.m., the OPP Dryden Detachment were notified of an incident on Clay Lake.
Two individuals had been fishing near rapids when their boat capsized.
One of the individuals was able to hang onto the boat and call for help, and was later rescued by employees from a nearby lodge.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre was engaged and the OPP’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) chartered a helicopter to conduct a search for the remaining person. While doing so, detachment members located 71-year-old David NITZEL of Rhineland, Wisconsin. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Year after year, the vast majority of victims killed in boating incidents were not wearing a lifejacket or PFD. With capsized vessels and falling over the top contributing factors in boating deaths every year, a significant number of lives stand to be saved if boaters and paddlers wore lifejackets/PFDs.
