Two Winnipeg students have been found safe after going missing on a camping field trip in Kenora that sparked a search and rescue by Ontario Provincial Police.
Grade 10 students at Exchange MET School arrived at the Experimental Lakes Area run by the International Institute for Sustainable Development on Monday for a two-night trip.
A total of 27 students and three staff members were in attendance. Part-way through the trip, two high schoolers disappeared from the group.
“We’ve got an outcome that we were hoping for here. I would say that what we have is students, kids, (who) will be processing the situation,” said Tony Kreml, superintendent of the Seven Oaks School Division.
Kreml said he was made aware of the situation on Wednesday afternoon and is working to confirm details surrounding the timeline and how two teens were separated from the rest of the group. He was not aware of any physical injuries.
“It is an extremely unsettling situation. I would just like to acknowledge that, and acknowledge the work of (all staff),” he said, adding division specialists and clinicians are supporting affected students and employees.
The emergency resulted in the cancellation of the same trip for Seven Oaks MET School students scheduled for Sept. 18-20.
The second cohort was supposed to be dropped off on a bus that was taking the initial group back to Winnipeg. Instead, their vehicle picked up the Exchange group and they all returned home.
Neither the International Institute for Sustainable Development nor the OPP responded immediately to requests for comment Thursday.
maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca
Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter
Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., Maggie was an intern at the Free Press twice while earning her degree at Ryerson’s School of Journalism (now Toronto Metropolitan University) before joining the newsroom as a reporter in 2019. Read more about Maggie.
Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.
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