Another Indian student is feared drowned after he jumped into the Cultus Lake last week to save a friend but did not resurface as he didn’t know how to swim. A Facebook post said that on July 19th, Ajay Singh jumped into the lake to rescue someone he thought was drowning. He did not come back up while trying to rescue someone in need.  “Singh’s family is seeking the public’s help to locate their son, brother and friend.  Please spread the word so that his loving family can get closure.  Ajay Singh is 23 years old and 5’5”,” the Facebook post said.

By PD Raj – Senior Writer DESIBUZZCanada

CULTUS LAKE – Another Indian student is feared drowned after he jumped into the Cultus Lake last week to save a friend but did not resurface as he didn’t know how to swim.

A Facebook post said that on July 19th, Ajay Singh jumped into the lake to rescue someone he thought was drowning. He did not come back up while trying to rescue someone in need. 

“Singh’s family is seeking the public’s help to locate their son, brother and friend.  Please spread the word so that his loving family can get closure.  Ajay Singh is 23 years old and 5’5”,” the Facebook post said.

Emergency responders were called out to Cultus Lake just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday (July 19) including Chilliwack RCMP, Cultus Lake Fire Department, BC Emergency Health Services and Chilliwack Search and Rescue after reports of a possible drowning.

First responders were called to the lake just after 5 p.m. last Wednesday for reports of a potential drowning, according to a statement from the Chilliwack RCMP.

“Witnesses advised that a man in his early 20s entered the water in an attempt to rescue his friend whom he believed to be drowning, but he himself did not know how to swim,” spokesperson Sgt. Krysta Vrolyk said in an email to CTV News.

 “The man went underwater and has yet to resurface. Cries for help alerted nearby boaters, jet skiers and swimmers who attempted to locate the man.”

Efforts to find Singh Lake continued on Thursday (July 20). The RCMP underwater recovery team had been on-scene at Cultus on Wednesday evening, and resumed search efforts Thursday morning, according to Chilliwack RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Krista Vrolyk.

Police diver teams are searching the area but no information on Singh’s whereabouts is available at press time.

Exactly almost three years ago, Surrey international student Manpreet Singh, 22, drowned while swimming near Entrance Bay at Cultus Lake, despite a stranger’s desperate attempt to save him.

The tragedy came days before he was set to move to Winnipeg and embark on a family dream.

Manpreet had graduated in December and got a work permit in April and started working cleaning offices full time after that to send money home to help his parents.

Eighty-six people in B.C. died by accidental drowning last year, according to new data released by the coroner’s service that sheds light on trends in the province over the past 10 years.

The number of deaths in 2022 was higher than the ten-year average, which was 76, and represented the second-highest annual total in the past decade. In 2020, there were 87 accidental drownings.