Six people presumed drowned as RCMP recover sunken boat off B.C. coast
A commercial charter boat capsized off Richmond, B.C., on Sunday. Four men and two women are presumed dead; four others were rescued.
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An RCMP underwater recovery team is searching a capsized vessel that sank off Richmond, B.C., on Sunday in the Strait of Georgia. Four men and two women are presumed drowned; four people were rescued.
B.C.'s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre suspended the search for survivors on Sunday evening around 9:45 p.m. PT. The investigation has been handed to RCMP, which specializes in subsurface recovery operations.
Maj. Gregory Clarke, officer-in-charge of the JRCC Victoria, said his team's role is to search until all possibilities of finding survivors are exhausted. "Our primary mission is to search until ... all possibilities of finding survivors and people alive [have] been exhausted," he said. By darkness, JRCC crews would have located and rescued anyone on the water's surface or shoreline.
In response to a request for an update, Richmond RCMP said their priority is "reaching and supporting the families of those who are missing and the survivors." The investigation involves multiple agencies, and updates will be shared as information becomes available.
Prime Minister Mark Carney acknowledged the incident on social media Tuesday. "My prayers are with all those impacted by the tragedy in the Strait of Georgia, B.C. — those missing, those who are recovering, and the loved ones who are awaiting answers," he wrote.
