Natasha Baldin/News Staff
One person is confirmed dead after a 40-foot yacht sank Friday in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, approximately three kilometres south of Victoria.
BC Coroners Service confirmed Wednesday in a statement to Black Press Media it is investigating one death resulting from the sinking.
“I can confirm that the BC Coroners Service was notified and is investigating one death resulting from this incident,” wrote Ryan Panton, a spokesperson for BC Coroners Service. “As we’re very early in the process of determining all the facts, I have no additional information to share at this time.”
#BREAKING (1/2) Last night around 7 pm, a #USCG aircrew from Port Angeles rescued 2 teenage females and 1 adult woman from a dinghy in the Salish Sea about 2 miles south of Victoria, B.C., The 40-foot vessel they were aboard took on water and quickly sank… pic.twitter.com/DWxWTDg5gj
— USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) July 1, 2023
A Port Angeles, Wash., crew from the U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Northwest responded to the incident at approximately 7 p.m. Friday night and rescued two teenage females and one adult woman in the Salish Sea from a dinghy associated with the yacht.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria first alerted the U.S. Coast Guard to the incident. Two 19 Wing Comox aircraft — a CH-149 Cormorant and a CC-130 Hercules — were dispatched to the scene, along with a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and two Canadian vessels.
The women were showing signs of hypothermia and were brought to the Victoria General Hospital.
The U.S. Coast Guard said weather on scene saw winds reaching 23 miles-per-hour and five-foot seas.
Cause of death and factors relating the yacht sinking are still unknown.
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