Man missing after trying to retrieve volleyball from Kamloops, B.C., river

Rescue crews are continuing their search along the Thompson River in Kamloops, B.C., where police say a university student went missing Sunday night. 

The young man was playing volleyball at Overlander Park when the ball went into the water, says Paula Davis, search manager with Kamloops Search and Rescue. 

Davis says the man went to retrieve the ball in the river, where he began to struggle. 

"Friends jumped in to try to help him but they were also ... struggling as well," Davis told host Shelley Joyce on CBC's Daybreak Kamloops.

"The friends were able to get themselves to safety, but unfortunately the young man wasn't able to."

Kamloops RCMP said in a statement that they were call around 5:15 p.m. to assist with a possible drowning.

Cpl. Dana Napier said that according to the report they received, the man entered the river to retrieve the ball "and got caught in the undercurrent."

"Two more men from the group who entered the water to assist were also caught in the current. Two of the initial three were saved while the third appeared to be pulled away and went under the water," she said.

Mounties said the missing man has been identified as an international student who was attending Thompson Rivers University. 

They said investigators are working with the RCMP's Foreign Domestic Liaison Unit to contact his family, and that no further details about him will be released at this time. 

Overlander Park is located in the city's North Shore neighbourhood, right by the confluence of the North and South Thompson rivers. 

Davis says Kamloops Fire and Rescue did a sweep of the area from the park to the airport Sunday night and did not find the man. Kamloops SAR continued the search by kayak and deployed a drone, but were also unsuccessful. 

The search continued Monday morning, with Vernon Search and Rescue expected to assist, as well as RCMP Air Services.

Davis says they'll search the area where the man was last seen and continue downstream, but says poor visibility in the river could hamper their efforts.

Davis also warns the river is "very dangerous this time of year" due to its currents. The only designated river swimming beach in Kamloops is Riverside Park, across the river from Overlander Park. 

"You don't want to underestimate it, that's for sure," she says. "It's really best to stay out of the water unless you're in an area that has pretty much no current." 

Davis is asking the public to stay out of the search areas while rescue crews work Monday.

"I think the biggest thing is just to give us space and let us do our job and hopefully we'll be successful today."