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Alcohol considered factor in bogus Lake Winnipeg boat distress call
GIMLI, Man. – Charges are pending after emergency personnel from Manitoba to Ontario scrambled to answer a call about a boat in distress on Lake Winnipeg that turned out to be a hoax.
RCMP in Gimli, north of Winnipeg, say they got word late Tuesday night about a capsized boat carrying as many as 16 people and that 13 of them were in the water.
Mounties, the Canadian Coast Guard, local emergency services and a Hercules search aircraft from CFB Trenton, Ont., were dispatched to the area.
A Coast Guard vessel eventually found the boat with one man on board, not far from the harbour at Winnipeg Beach, south of Gimli.
Police say the distress call was bogus and that alcohol may have played a role in the alleged prank.
A 36-year-old man from the Matlock area, north of Winnipeg, is in custody.
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