VANCOUVER — A West Vancouver man is dead and another in critical condition after carbon monoxide built up in a marina boathouse on the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.

The two men, both in their 50s, were overcome by the gas while working on a boat at Secret Cove Marina, a small, family-owned marina 20 kilometres northwest of Sechelt near Smuggler’s Cove.

Investigators estimated the boat had been running and churning out fumes for about an hour before the marina operator found the two men unconscious on the floor of the boathouse about 2:30 p.m., Sunshine Coast RCMP spokesman Cpl. Murray McNeil said. The door to the boathouse was partially open.

Firefighters entered the boathouse with full respirators to retrieve the men. One was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ambulance crews transported the second man from the marina to St. Mary’s Hospital in Sechelt around 3 p.m., B.C. Ambulance spokeswoman Catherine Bianco said. The man was then airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital.

Next of kin are being notified, McNeil said.

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