Five people who died after a whale watching boat sank off the coast of western Canada have been confirmed as British nationals.
A massive search for survivors ended off Canada’s Vancouver Island after the boat with 27 people on board sank on Sunday.
The 20-metre Leviathan II, operated by Jamie's Whaling Station, made a mayday call late on Sunday afternoon, local time, on a clear and sunny day in the tourist community that is a popular destination for whale watchers on the country's west coast.
Lieutenant Commander Desmond James, a spokesman for the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre, staffed by Canadian military and coastguard members, said the agency’s search concluded with five dead, 21 rescued and one person missing.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police will take over the search for the missing person.
The boat was partially submerged eight nautical miles west of Tofino.
Tofino’s mayor Josie Osborne described the mood in the town as tense, but Lead Lt Cmdr James said later the military agency’s search had concluded with five people dead, 21 rescued and one person missing.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police would take over the search for the missing person, he said.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said his thoughts are with the family and friends of all those affected by the “terrible accident.
“It is with deep sadness that I can confirm five British nationals have lost their lives when the whale watching boat they were on sank off western Canada on Sunday.
“My thoughts are with the family and friends of all those affected by this terrible accident,” he said.
The boat was partially submerged eight nautical miles west of Tofino. Tofino’s mayor Josie Osborne described the mood in the town as tense, but praised residents for their aid in the rescue effort.
“Everybody’s heart is just breaking for what’s going on here and wanting to be as helpful as possible,” she said.
Valerie Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Island Health hospital agency, said 18 people were taken to Tofino General Hospital and said to be in a stable condition.
Three were transferred to other hospitals and some of the 15 who remained in Tofino had already been discharged, she said.
Coastguard vessels and search and rescue aircraft were searching for people on the boat who were missing. The helicopter and aircraft being used in the waters off Tofino has equipment to search in the darkness.
Boats from the nearby Ahoushat First Nation arrived first on the scene, said aboriginal councillor Tom Campbell, who watched from the waterfront as rescuers brought several survivors ashore.
“Their looks tell the whole story,” he said. “You can’t describe looks on people that are lost. They look totally lost shocked and lost.”
Mr Campbell said his cousin pulled at least eight people from the water into a rescue boat.
John Forde, who runs The Whale Centre, another whale-watching operation, responded to the call for help. He said he did not know how the Leviathan II could have sunk.
“Over the course of a season and years we take out thousands and thousands of people on these trips in conditions similar today. I have no idea what the issue was or what actually happened,” he said.
It is not the first fatality on Jamie’s Whaling Station’s record. In 1998 one of its vessels capsized during an excursion, sending all four people on board into the water. The operator and a passenger died.
PA, Reuters