A 26-year-old Alberta man drowned Friday while working on a boat in Shuswap Lake, northeast of Kamloops, B.C.

Police said the man, whose name was not released, was on the boat in the morning when he suddenly fell in the water.

"The male was positioned near the rear swim deck, with the boat running, and engine idling," RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said.

"Witnesses on scene stated observing the male appeared to be in medical distress moments before he fell into the water and sunk beneath the surface."

The man was pulled from the water about an hour later and pronounced dead at the scene.

An autopsy will be conducted, said police, who don't believe drugs or alcohol were factors in the drowning.

There have been several fatalities, drownings and near-drownings on B.C. waterways this month.

Last week, a 23-year-old student from Korea was taken to hospital in critical condition after nearly drowning in Kalamalka Lake, south of Vernon, B.C.

On July 18, a 17-year-old student from China died after he was found floating in the water at Alice Lake Provincial Park, near Squamish.

A 16-year-old girl died on Hatzic Lake earlier this month when she fell from the bow of a boat and was run over.

A 50-year-old man drowned in Harrison Lake when his sailboat flipped over, and a Vancouver Island man is presumed drowned after his boat was found empty in Alberni Inlet.

The lifeless body of a four-year-old girl was found floating near the shore of Swy-Lana Lagoon in Nanaimo earlier this month, but she was saved by ambulance attendants and made a full recovery.

A two-year-old girl was pulled from a backyard pool in Surrey, but she was saved by a bystander who gave her CPR.

With files from The Canadian Press