Two people dead after incident in Turtle Lake

Two people are dead after a woman went into distress while swimming in Turtle Lake and a man swam out to help her.

On Saturday around 6:45 p.m., RCMP officers responded to calls of two people in distress in the lake roughly 220 kilometres west of Prince Albert.

Police say a 51-year-old woman had been swimming in the lake when she began to struggle in the water. A 60-year-old man went in to help her and he began to have difficulties as well.

Other people nearby brought the two — both of whom were unresponsive — to shore, where they were pronounced dead by paramedics who had arrived.

Both the man and woman were from the nearby Thunderchild First Nation.