Three people and a dog rescued from dinghy off the coast of Victoria (VIDEO)
The US Coast Guard said it was called Friday evening after two teenage girls, an adult woman, and a dog were aboard a 40-foot vessel which took on water and quickly sank.
Steve Strohmaier, the spokesperson for the US Coast Guard based in Seattle, explained the Canadian Coast Guard received the stress call from the vessel before 7 pm, which was located in the Salish Sea, which is about two miles south of Victoria.
Since the US Coast Guard had a helicopter that was already airborne in the area, Strohmaier explained it briefly refuelled because it expected to hoist the people in distress. When crews returned, he said they found a dinghy that was partially submerged and three individuals on board with a dog.
The aircrew from Port Angeles was able to rescue a 13-year-old, a 15-year-old, and an adult from the dinghy.
#BREAKING (1/2) Last night around 7 pm, a #USCG aircrew from Port Angeles rescued 2 teenage females and 1 adult woman from a dinghy in the Salish Sea about 2 miles south of Victoria, B.C., The 40-foot vessel they were aboard took on water and quickly sank… pic.twitter.com/DWxWTDg5gj
— USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) July 1, 2023
The dog was rescued by a Canadian Coast Guard vessel, Strohmaier said.
He added the three people on board were not dressed for the conditions but were wearing life jackets.
He said the three of them were showing severe high signs of hypothermia and were taken to the closest hospital, which was in Victoria.
Strohmaier said it’s unclear where the group was headed or what caused the vessel to sink, but the Americans did disembark from Seattle.
“I don’t know how long it took to sink or if that raft was actually part of safety gear. Either way, the vessels that were on transiting on sunk and they had to abandon, and that was why they were in that dinghy.”