UPDATE: Homeless campers mourn after death of one of their own in Kelowna

Homeless campers lingered around a warming tent in Kelowna this morning comforting others who were distraught after a man from the camp died last night, Dec. 15.

It appears to have been an overdose, but that has not been confirmed.

RCMP said in a media release they were called at 3:50 a.m. by Interior Health to help identify a man who had been taken by ambulance from the homeless camp. He was officially pronounced dead in hospital. Both RCMP and B.C. Coroners Service are investigating but his identity is not being released.

Gary Baker, one of the homeless people who sometimes speaks for the campers, said no one woke him at the time.

The man was reportedly discovered in his own tent.

Security guards called for an ambulance but it arrived too late, Baker said.

 — This story was updated at 2:10 p.m., Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, to add information from RCMP and correct where the man's body was found.

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