The BC Coroners Service says there were 136 fatal overdoses in April -- bringing the provisional total to 488 since the beginning of the year.
That's almost double the 69 deaths recorded in the same month last year and makes last month the second-deadliest on record after last December.
In Kelowna, 32 overdose deaths were reported in April, down 15 from the 47 recorded at the same time last year.
Provincially, a breakdown by age and gender shows 404 of the victims were male -- a death rate nearly five times higher than the 84 females who died.