A guided trip on the Bonnet Plume River ended in tragedy Monday, with the drowning death of an Ontario man.

Doug Lavers of Toronto was paddling the river with five others when the canoe he was in flipped, acting Yukon coroner Julius Debuschewitz said today.

Lavers, 69, and his paddling partner were swept downriver and Lavers was found unconscious, according to the coroner.

Members of the paddling group, which included a physician, attempted CRP but their efforts were unsuccessful.

The group reached the RCMP detachment in Norman Wells, N.W.T. via satellite phone.

Because the incident occurred in the Yukon – just five kilometres from the N.W.T. border – officers from the Mayo detachment were dispatched to the scene.

A helicopter was sent out the following morning to recover Lavers' body.

"It was by no means a simple operation,” Debuschewitz said, noting the difficult terrain.

Lavers and the other man were both wearing life vests and were fully equipped with safety gear, according to the coroner.

"It was truly an accident,” Debuschewitz said, noting he has determined the cause of death as drowning.

Lavers' body has been turned over to his family, Debuschewitz said, and there will be no autopsy "because it was a witnessed drowning.”

There will be no further investigation into the death, the coroner said.

"I've had enough information from the RCMP who talked to witnesses that I don't need to do a further investigation,” he said.