Thetis Lake hikers react to pushing incident

CHEK

WATCH: Hikers at Thetis Lake react to news of a woman being pushed off a cliff into the water on Sunday.

West Shore RCMP said they are looking for a group of three women after a 29-year-old woman was reportedly pushed off a 12-metre (40-foot) cliff into the water at Thetis Lake in View Royal on Sunday.

Police said at around 3:30 p.m. on May 19, the victim was hiking near the first beach cliff face when she met up with a group of three unknown women who were reportedly drinking alcohol. According to police, the woman was looking over a cliff when someone pushed her causing her to fall in the water 12 metres below.

Fortunately, the victim was able to swim to shore and later received medical attention for her injuries. Police are seeking witnesses or the person responsible to come forward to speak with investigators, Cpl. Chris Dovell of the West Shore RCMP said in a statement. Anyone with information is being asked to call West Shore RCMP at 250-474-2264 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

This is not the first time a pushing incident has happened in a park.

Last year, a teen was pushed by her friend off a bridge in Washington.

Her friend was found guilty of reckless endangerment and spent two days in jail.

Officials say intentionally jumping off a cliff into the water is also dangerous.

Two years ago, a woman was injured while slipping as she jumped into Thetis Lake.

Back then, View Royal fire chief Paul Hurst told CHEK News that he wanted additional safety measures implemented.

“These accidents are preventable accidents and it’s high time that the powers that be start looking at the lake and looking at the cliffs and make some real decisions about what to do,” Hurst said.

On Wednesday, View Royal Mayor David Screech said that the cliffs are dangerous, but that it can be difficult to prevent everyone from accessing them.

“You can’t fence the whole area in,” Screech said. “And when you think of all our parks, there’s dangerous areas. When you think of Sooke Potholes, there’s high cliffs.”

West Shore RCMP will be holding a press conference Wednesday morning on the status of the investigation into this latest incident.

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