BC Coroners Service logo, no date, photo in stock
Man’s death in 2019 Shuswap Lake speedboat accident accidentally ruled
Report Notes A Lake Country man was intoxicated with drugs and alcohol when two speedboats collided
The September 2019 death of a man who drowned after a two speed boat incident at Shuswap Lake was identified as accidental in a recent coroner’s report with drug and alcohol poisoning as contributing factors.
On September 1, 2019 at around 8:30 p.m., emergency services were called to the scene of the accident in the salmon arm area of Lake Shuswap. They discovered that the operator of one of the two large motor boats involved was 33 years old. Old Ryan Dieter Hartmann from Lake Country went missing. An RCMP diving team recovered Hartmann’s body eight days later.
According to the coroner’s report, Hartmann had operated a 36-foot racing boat with two engines ranging from 700 to 800 horsepower. The second boat involved in the incident was a 28-foot racing boat.
Read More
Read more: BC extends the mandatory mask rules in schools and introduces “Rapid Response Teams”.
The investigation revealed that the two boats were traveling side by side at high speed when Hartmann’s boat was pulled to the left and touched the side of the other boat. Hartmann is said to have steered sharply to the right of the other boat. The report states that the sudden change of direction threw all the occupants of Hartmann’s boat into the lake. Everyone else who went into the water was rescued by other boaters, but Hartmann was reported missing.
The coroner’s report said Hartmann suffered a blunt force trauma to his chest when he was ejected from the boat. A toxicological report found an alcohol level in his system that, according to coroners, is compatible with moderate poisoning and mixed medication use. Both trauma and poisoning are listed as contributing factors to Hartmann’s death, which the coroner classified as accidental.
jim.elliot@saobserver.net
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Shuswap Lake
Get local stories you won’t find anywhere else straight to your inbox.
Sign in here
