Airdrie teen missing in central Alberta lake

Emergency crews are searching for an Airdrie teen who may have drowned in a central Alberta lake.

Emergency crews received a report of a possible drowning at Buffalo Lake near Stettler, Alta., around 4:20 p.m. on Tuesday.

RCMP responded, along with the Stettler fire department and STARS Air Ambulance, but they were not able to find 17-year-old Ajay Purba, who is believed to still be in the water.

According to police, Purba was on an inflatable when he got pulled too far out into the water.

He got off the inflatable and attempted to swim back to shore, and as he did so the wind picked up, blowing the inflatable away from him.

Rescue crews returned to the lake on Wednesday with drones and sonar to continue the search.

"Everybody that was there saw where he was in the lake but trying to pinpoint where that is from different accounts, especially from people that were in the lake at the time, it’s difficult," Staff Sgt. Jon England told CTV News Edmonton.

"At this time, we’re trying to pinpoint where he was last seen and obviously concentrate our efforts of searching that area."

Crews will be on scene searching the water for the next few days. 

Stettler is about 185 kilometres southeast of Edmonton and 80 kilometres east of Red Deer.