5 People Dead and 1 Missing after Whale Tour Boat Sinks off British Columbia, Canada

A Canadian whale-watching tour boat with 27 passengers on board has sunk off the coast of British Columbia. Five people have reportedly died and one individual is still missing. According to accounts  21 people have been rescued. The 65 foot vessel named the MV Leviathan II made a distress call late Sunday afternoon. The cause of the accident is not yet known.

The BC Coroners Service says five people have died after a whale watching vessel sank off the coast of Tofino, B.C., Sunday, while 18 were sent to hospital

The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre confirms that the MV Leviathan II, operated by Jamie’s Whaling Station,had 27 people on board when it sank west of Vargas Island.

Of that total, 21 have been rescued, while one person remains missing.

JRCC says the search has been called off while the RCMP will assume responsibility for the person still unaccounted for.

CNN:

Five people died after a whale watching tour boat carrying 27 people sank off the coast of Tofino, British Columbia, on Sunday, rescue coordinators said. One person was missing.

Twenty-one people have been rescued, said the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.

Search and rescue efforts were wrapped up late Sunday.

The boat was a whale-watching vessel named the MV Leviathan II, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said.

A witness told CBC the boat sank far enough from shore that it could not be seen.