A man in his 70s is dead after a boat overturned off Hornby Island on Tuesday night. The other man in the boat was able to right it, row to shore and call for help.
The two men were in a small aluminum motor boat when it capsized just before 5 p.m., Hornby Island Fire Chief Doug Chinnery told the Times Colonist. The man in his 70s was unable to stay afloat without a life-jacket.
His friend, who is in his 60s, dragged the man to Norris Rock, Chinnery said, which is 500 metres from Toby Island, off the southern tip of Hornby Island.
The friend righted the boat and rowed to shore where he found a construction crew who called 911, Chinnery said. The fire department received a call around 5 p.m. about a man with hypothermia and another man who was possibly deceased.
The first arriving medical crew looked after the survivor. The Canadian Coast Guard was dispatched but were about 25 minutes away, Chinnery said, so the second medical crew boarded a boat from Hornby Island Diving to find the man on Norris Rock.
The man was found unresponsive.
“They got him into the boat and worked on him on the way back to Ford’s Cove Marina where the B.C. Air Ambulance crew and our doctor met them to continue resuscitation efforts,” Chinnery said. The man was pronounced dead at the marina.
“We are all saddened by the loss of this gentleman, and our hearts go out to his friends, family, and community,” Chinnery wrote in a post on the department’s Facebook page.
The survivor was taken to North Island Hospital in Courtenay. Earlier information that no one was taken to hospital was incorrect.
It appears the men came to Hornby Island on a day trip from Vancouver Island, Chinnery said.
Comox Valley RCMP are investigating what caused the boat to capsize. The seas were not rough on Tuesday evening, Chinnery said.
The boat did not have a motor when it was towed back to the marina, but Chinnery said it’s unclear when it came off.
The B.C. Coroners Service confirmed it is investigating the death of a man in his late 70s.
This is the second fatal boating accident in the waters off Vancouver Island in the past three days. A man in his 50s died and two people were taken to hospital after a boat fire and explosion at the North Saanich Marina on Sunday afternoon.
One boat and a fuel dock were destroyed in the explosion and fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the RCMP but does not appear suspicious.
kderosa@timescolonist.com
from
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/one-person-killed-at-hornby-island-in-boating-accident
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