Five rescued after boat goes down off west coast of Vancouver Island

VICTORIA – Officials say five people have been rescued after their boat went down off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Sub-Lt. Melissa Kia with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria says someone on the 8.5-metre-long catamaran made a distress call around 1:20 p.m. Sunday after the vessel began taking on water near Bartlett Island, north of Tofino, B.C.

Kia says coast guard rescue boats and a helicopter were dispatched to help find the five, and two commercial floatplanes in the area also scoured the scene.

One of the floatplanes spotted the people and two boats were able to lift the passengers from the water around 2:50 p.m.

Kia says all five were transferred to emergency health services in Tofino.

It’s unclear what condition the passengers are in.