One person is dead and another in serious condition after an incident at a campsite near Salmon Arm Saturday morning.
A youth was taken to hospital in serious condition, while an adult female was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to RCMP Cpl. Chris Manseau, the pair may have suffered Carbon Monoxide poisoning.
“When fuel is burned, carbon monoxide is created. It’s a colourless and odorless gas and tasteless so you wouldn’t even know you were consuming it, especially when you were asleep. It binds, actually, more readily to your hemoglobin than oxygen does. You would basically just drift off to sleep.”
Based on evidence found at the scene, investigators believe the pair had gone to bed in their tent the night before and burned wood in a cooking pot, as a source of heat.
“The devices that people use, propane and other sources of fuel for heat, they quite often say on them not to use them in closed spaces and obviously a tent can be considered a confined space,” said Manseau.
The investigation is still in early stages and I.D’s have not been released.