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Powell River RCMP say three men are dead after a boat capsized about 500 to 1,000 metres off the shore of Savary Island Thursday night.
Two men survived, according to an RCMP news release issued Friday.
RCMP said the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC), which leads search and rescue missions in the region, was alerted at about 10 p.m. PT Thursday that a “personal vessel failed to return to Lund Harbour as expected.”
A coast guard lifeboat was immediately deployed from Powell River, along with an inshore fast rescue craft from Cortes Bay and an Airforce Kingfisher aircraft from Comox, according to RCMP.
Const. Paula Perry with the Powell River RCMP said the detachment received a report from the JRCC at 11 p.m. that five men had gone out clam fishing and the boat had capsized. The report said two men had made it to shore while three others remained missing.
They were found deceased shortly after 11 p.m., Perry said.
She said the five men were from Tla’amin Nation.
“We do express our sympathies to the Tla’amin Nation … for this tragic event. It affects the entire community,” Perry said.
The two survivors were taken to hospital, according to the release.
RCMP are assisting the B.C. Coroners Service in an investigation.
Savary Island, in the Salish Sea, is about 140 kilometres northwest of Vancouver as the crow flies.
