Canadian Crews Recover 6 Feared Dead After 10-Person Charter Sinks Off Vancouver
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 30
Canadian Crews Recover 6 Feared Dead After 10-Person Charter Sinks Off Vancouver
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 30
Summary
Six people are believed dead after a fishing charter carrying 10 people took on water and sank Sunday in the Georgia Strait off Vancouver, shifting the operation from rescue to recovery.
RCMP underwater teams were preparing to search the wreck as major crimes investigators examined whether a collision or criminal act caused the boat to disappear without a mayday call.
Four people were pulled from the water; a 33-year-old man and 28-year-old woman remained in critical condition, while a 26-year-old man and 33-year-old woman were discharged from hospital.
Dorothy Stauffer and Brian Angus, passing in a yacht, made the key mayday call and rescued three survivors after spotting five people in the water, though one sank from view and two others were lost.
Officials said none of the passengers wore lifejackets, and the cold, fast-moving mix of river and ocean water sharply reduced survival time in what rescuers called a bizarrely rapid sinking.