Whitehorse Daily Star

Search is on for missing boater

RCMP and Klondike Search and Rescue personnel are scouring the Yukon River for a missing canoeist after his brother was pulled safely from the water Saturday morning.

By Whitehorse Star on July 9, 2012

RCMP and Klondike Search and Rescue personnel are scouring the Yukon River for a missing canoeist after his brother was pulled safely from the water Saturday morning.

At around 2 a.m., Dawson City RCMP were advised by a group of canoeists that they had rescued a man found clinging to the side of a canoe.

The man, in his 60s, was in shock and had early stages of hypothermia.

He told his rescuers he had been in the water for about five hours, RCMP Staff Sgt. Major Ken Foster said today.

Their boat had flipped about 60 kilometres up river from Dawson City.

The man said his brother, also in his 60s, had attempted to swim to shore and hadn't been seen since.

Both men were wearing personal flotation devices.

A search for the missing man begun right away, Foster told the Star.

An RCMP helicopter was used and the local Search and Rescue group was also called in.

The missing man is from Quebec, while his rescued brother is from the local area.

Neither name is being released by police.

So far, there has been no sign of the missing man, but Foster said search and rescue efforts are continuing.

He is asking the public to phone the police with any information or if they see anything that might help with the search.

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