VANCOUVER -- A new push is underway to improve safety around the Sooke River after the tragic deaths of three young men in the area last weekend.
Cory Mills, Eric Blackmore and AJ Jensen, all 20 years old, were last seen leaving Jensen's parents' house around 10:30 p.m. Friday.
Their blue Dodge Dakota truck was found in the fast-moving Sooke River on Sunday evening.
Late Friday afternoon, the B.C. government agreed to join the Capital Regional District in closing the gates at Sooke Potholes Provincial Park at 9 p.m. daily, opening them again at 7 a.m. the following morning.
The CRD already closes the gates at the regional part adjacent to the provincial park every night.
Mike Hicks, regional director for the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area within the CRD, told CTV News Vancouver Island the three young men couldn't have driven into the provincial park if the gate to the parking lot had been closed.
Hicks said the area should be closed whenever floods are predicted.
"What I'm asking for is BC Parks to work with the CRD, Sooke, RCMP, that when a flood is going to happen - and it's very predictable - that these gates be shut … to prevent tragedies like we just had," he said.
