Four people were in hospital – two in critical condition – after two separate avalanches Monday afternoon in southeastern B.C.
Three were injured in an avalanche near Revelstoke, about 200 kilometres northeast of Kelowna, said B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS). The fourth person was caught in an avalanche near Cherryville further south.
Two of the people in the Revelstoke avalanche are in critical condition, and the other person is in serious condition. The condition of the person injured in the Cherryville avalanche is unknown.
The avalanches occurred just two days after a man died from an avalanche near Valemount and two weeks after an avalanche near Kaslo killed two Nelson police officers.
Avalanche Canada has warned the snowpack this season is unusually weak and highly susceptible to avalanches. A forecaster told CBC on Monday prior to the two recent avalanches that dangerous conditions are likely to persist for some time in the province, particularly in the Interior and northwestern B.C.
Tiffany Akins from BCEHS said an ambulance responded to the call from Cherryville, which is about 100 kilometres northeast of Kelowna, around 2:15 p.m. on Monday.
Atkins said they dispatched a helicopter but it was unable to land. Crews instead picked up the patient by ground ambulance from the highway around 3:30 p.m.
Less than 10 minutes after receiving the first call, BCEHS heard of the other avalanche near Revelstoke.
Atkins said those patients were picked up by private helicopter and met by ground ambulance at the Kelowna airport.
