Canadian boat owner co-operating with authorities

At least five people died after a tour boat with 27 people on board sank off the coast of British Columbia Sunday, Canadian officials said.

The West Coast Marine Section and the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team, along with the coast guard and local search and rescue, are working together to find the missing passenger.

Twenty seven people were on board the tourist boat that sank off British Columbia in Canada.

The boat, which was carrying 27 people, turned over near Vancouver Island on Sunday afternoon local time, killing a woman and four men, all of them British.

The incident happened so quickly there was no time for a mayday message, the marine investigation report by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said.

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.

Another seaman, Lance Desilets, who is a fishing guide out of Tofino, said when he got out to the boat there were a dozen boats already there pulling folks out of the water.

The boat capsized about eight nautical miles (14.7 kilometers) off Tofino, a popular destination for whale watchers.

To the community of Tofino: what could I possibly say to tell you how much your outpouring of support means?

“There was absolute pandemonium”, said witness Sheila Simpson, who watched paramedics work to save injured victims and later comforted survivors: “They were in absolute shock”. He set course for the Leviathan II and arrived as the boat was almost submerged. “I’ve never seen, in my involvement with search and rescue, heard this happen before”.

18 people were taken to Tofino General Hospital, of which three were transferred to other island health facilities, a spokeswoman said.

The 65ft boat was operated by Jamie’s Whaling Station & Adventure Centres. “Our entire team is heartbroken over this incident and our hearts go out to the families, friends and loved ones of everyone involved”, Bray said in the statement.

Company owner Jamie Bray said passengers on the boat were not required to wear life jackets as it has enclosed compartments, which would be hard to exit in the event of a sinking. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is now conducting a dive into the overturned remains of the “Leviathan II” to check for the one remaining passenger who is unaccounted for.

It wasn’t the first fatal accident on the whale watching company’s record.

Canadian Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau thanked all those who participated in the rescue effort and offered his condolences to the victims and their families. This was a tragic accident and our thoughts and prayers go out to our passengers, crew and everyone impacted. We picked them up out of the water.