Britons among dead in whale-watching boat sinking off Canadian coast

The six-metre boat didn’t sink, but was swamped with water.

A number of boats converged at the site to help the Coast Guard with its search effort, including several from the Ahousat aboriginal community, with one taking eight people aboard, according to an account in the Vancouver Sun newspaper. “Then another body surfaced, which they grabbed as well”.

“I saw them save someone’s life. They were covered in diesel”.

Joe Martin, a member of the Tal-o-qui-aht tribe, was near the dock when rescue boats went out. The two young men “have never had to deal with anything like this before”, he said. The Transportation Safety Board confirmed it is investigating the accident.

Lt. Commander Desmond James, a spokesman for the Joint Rescue Coordination Center, confirmed that of the 21 passengers rescued, one remains missing.

Osborne said a community gathering is being planned for Monday evening in Tofino.

A woman and four men, all of them British, have died after the whale-watching boat they were on capsized off the west coast of Canada.

‘My thoughts are with the family and friends of all those affected by this bad accident’. He added that United Kingdom authorities “will remain in close contact with Canadian authorities as further information becomes available”. “On behalf of the Green Party, I extend my deepest condolences to the friends and families of the five British tourists whose lives were lost in Tofino yesterday”.

Wilson said 18 other people aboard the vessel have been assessed, treated and released from hospital in Tofino.

Deddeda White said she gathered cedar bows and flowers from her garden to make the bouquet she left at the dock. “They’ve lived on the ocean for thousands of years”.

“It’s dark here now and obviously the priority is getting the people off the water safely”.

“Their looks tell the whole story”, he said by phone from Tofino. “But certainly nothing of this size has taken place before”.

John Forde, who works at another eco-adventure company, said passengers on a vessel like the Leviathan II, a 65-foot cruiser, would not have had to wear life jackets.

“This vessel has operated for 20 years with an absolutely flawless safety record”, Jamie Bray, the owner of Jamie’s Whaling Station, said at a news conference on Monday.

Bray said the boat sank in an area it goes to every day and said they are all traumatized and in disbelief.

The operator, Jamie’s Whaling Station in Tofino, had been criticised by investigators over the previous accident in 1998.

Reports said seas near Tofino were calm and the weather sunny when the boat sank. One person was missing.

But officials admitted there was little chance the passenger would be found alive, nearly 24 hours after the Leviathan II sent out a distress call to say it was sinking.

The Canadian prime minister-designate, Justin Trudeau, said that he was “shocked and saddened” by the deaths.