Body of Dutch tourist recovered after tumble into river through B.C. park

CAMPBELL RIVER, B.C. – A Dutch woman in her 60s has died in British Columbia after falling into fast-moving water in a provincial park on Vancouver Island.

RCMP say the woman slipped into the water at Elk Falls Provincial Park near Campbell River on Thursday afternoon.

Language issues complicated the response, but an RCMP news release says officers were able to locate the woman’s husband at the park and were told the woman had called for help once after she fell in, but was pulled under and disappeared.

There was concern she had been swept over a nearby waterfall just below a BC Hydro reservoir, so the release says Hydro shut the water flow from the dam in order to assist with search efforts.

The woman’s body was located above the falls after a two hour search and was recovered from the water a short time later.

The unnamed victim was touring Vancouver Island with her husband and police say a Dutch-speaking RCMP officer was brought in to support him, while police are also working with the Netherlands Foreign Consular Office to provide assistance to family in Holland.