Dead after tourist boat sinking Canada

- Off the west coast of Canada, on Vancouver Island, Sunday is a tourist boat capsized and sank. At least three of the 27 people on board perished off the coast of the village of Tofino. The passengers went whale watching, Canadian media reported.

According to CBC News, eighteen people taken to hospital. Many of them were hypothermic. An unspecified number of people still missing. Although it is now dark, the rescue operation continues. The Coast Guard is helped by local fishing boats and water taxis.

The cause of the accident is not yet known. The weather conditions were according to witnesses 'average' : clouds, some wind and light rain.

The operator of the boat trips, Jamie's Whaling Station and Adventure Centres, is very experienced. For over thirty year tours are organized, which will be looking for humpback whales and gray whales. On October 31 would finish the season. The operator also was experiencing a fatal accident in 1998. Then came in the capsizing of a boat a crew member and a passenger.

Tofino is a tourist attraction. Every year there are a lot of tourists from all over the world by boat to see the whales in the Pacific Ocean.

Transportation Security Canada sends a team of investigators Monday to assess the situation and find out the facts.