UPDATE: 1:41 p.m.
Bryn McNair wept at the loss of a friend.
"We lost one of the residents down here last night, somebody who's been here for a while and was very well known," said the homeless camp volunteer.
McNair found out about the sudden death at the North End camp Monday morning as she was coming down to volunteer after dropping her two young children at school.
"It's hitting everybody down here really hard. Us volunteers have been coming down, basically, just trying to keep these people alive."
She's worried about the health of those living at the camp because there are no doctors or nurses on call, and some security staff aren't naloxone trained.
"We have a few naloxone kits, but nobody's trained ... but the volunteers are doing their best. There's just not enough of us to keep all these people alive," worries McNair.
Temperatures have been dropping below freezing lately, and that leads to more issues.
"We live in this community and these are human beings, and if I left my dog outside right now, my dog would be apprehended and taken away to a nice, warm shelter. I don't understand why we don’t look after our humans like this," says McNair.
A volunteer at the Metro Church Welcome Inn shelter said RCMP Victims Services staff were in a couple of times to provide assistance to those grieving the death at the camp.
UPDATE: 1:20 p.m.
RCMP say foul play is not suspected in the death of a man at the homeless camp in Kelowna's North End.
About 3:50 a.m., police received a request to assist Interior Health to identify the unknown adult male who died at Kelowna General Hospital after being rushed there by ambulance from the Recreation Avenue site.
RCMP spokesperson Const. Solana Pare says criminality is not suspected in the man's sudden death at this time.
Police continue to investigate the case, along with the BC Coroners Service.
Central Okanagan RCMP Victim Services is assisting those personally impacted.
ORIGINAL: 11 a.m.
Someone has died at Kelowna's city-sanctioned homeless camp.
Paramedics were called to the Recreation Avenue site beside the Kelowna Curling Club at 2:43 a.m. for an unconscious person, says BC Emergency Health Services spokesperson Shannon Miller.
"An advanced care paramedic unit was on scene at 2:55 a.m. and transported a patient in critical condition to hospital," Miller said in an emailed statement.
The patient is believed to have died at Kelowna General Hospital.
Residents of the camp confirm the death of a young male camp resident.
Castanet has reached out to RCMP for more information.
Camp residents have packed up for the day and are reportedly at the new Metro Church Welcome Inn shelter. Castanet has a reporter headed there for more details.
— Jon Manchester, Castanet
