Woman and child pulled from Vancouver Island river, conditions unknown

VICTORIA – A woman and a child who were pulled from a Vancouver Island river have been transported to hospital in critical condition.

Const. Don Sinclair of the Comox Valley RCMP says police received multiple 911 calls of a woman and a small child floating down the fast-flowing Puntledge River mid-afternoon on Friday.

He says police were on scene within minutes, and with the help of an RCMP helicopter located the child who was rushed to St. Joseph’s General Hospital by ambulance.

Sinclair says the woman was located a short time later and also taken to hospital.

Angela Wilson of B.C. Emergency Health Services says both were listed as critical when they came out of the water, but she had no update on their conditions.

Sinclair says police don’t know how the two ended up in the river and officers are trying to identify them and contact family members.