4 hurt after water taxi runs aground north of Tofino

4 hurt after water taxi runs aground north of Tofino
CHEK

Four people were injured Tuesday after the water taxi they were on ran aground on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Shortly before 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, a Canadian Coast Guard vessel rescued six people from a 25-foot water taxi that had run aground near Catface Mountain, north of Tofino.

According to a spokesperson with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Pacific Region, four of the people on board were injured.

“All six of them were taken to First Street dock in Tofino and they were all transferred over to Emergency Health Services,” the JRCC spokesperson said, adding that they did not know the severity of the injuries.

Once everyone had been rescued, the Canadian Coast Guard later returned to the area and towed the damaged water taxi to Tofino, the spokesperson said.

“I’m not sure what the cause was, but I know that a Transportation Safety Board will be the one conducting an investigation now that the search and rescue event is complete.”

Tofino RCMP said in a statement released to the media Tuesday afternoon that the incident was caused due to poor visibility but that the matter is still under investigation.

“Through investigation and interviews, it’s been determined that visibility was poor due to the morning fog,” Sgt. Chris Manseau, media Relations officer for the BC RCMP, said in a press release. “Tofino RCMP, with support from the RCMP West Coast Marine Section will be probing the circumstances that contributed to the collision.”

Catface Mountain is located near Epper Passage Provincial Park and is about 12 kilometres northeast of Tofino.

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