8 Canadian women’s died in hospital after being flown there by U.S. Coast Guard crews, who hoisted her from a sailboat that ran aground in stormy waters near San Juan Islands east of Greater Victoria this week.
A 56-year-old Canadian man was also rescued and taken to the same hospital in Bellingham, Wash., while a U.S. Coast Guard member suffered injuries during the rescue.
It was around 7 p.m. Monday when Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound watchstanders got a mayday call via VHF radio from the sailboat’s captain, who said the 31-foot vessel “was disabled and drifting toward land,” according to the coast guard.
It says the weather on scene was reportedly snowy, with roughly 40 to 48 kilometre-per-hour (25 to 30 mph) winds and four to six-foot waves.
The coast guard says a rescue boat crew from Station Bellingham and a helicopter from Air Station Port Angeles were paged out to find the boaters and the vessel.
“As coast guard crews were attempting the rescue, the sailboat ran aground. After the mast of the vessel collapsed, the aircrew was able to lower the rescue swimmer to reach the individuals,” reads a news release, which was issued Tuesday.
(U.S. Coast Guard)
It says the swimmer located the man, who was then hoisted to the rescue boat, while the helicopter crews found the woman in the water and guided the boat crew to her location.
She was unconscious and brought aboard so crews could do CPR.
The woman was then hoisted from the boat to the helicopter and flown to St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, where she was “later declared deceased by hospital personnel,” according to the coast guard in the release.
The man, meanwhile, was taken by the boat crew to Station Bellingham, where he was then transported to paramedics, who took him to St. Joseph hospital.
A coast guard member who was injured during the rescue was also sent to hospital and later released.
U.S. Coast Guard petty officer Steve Strohmaier tells CHEK News an investigation is underway to determine what caused the boat to run aground. It could have been “a mechanical failure or the weather,” but they’re not sure yet, said Strohmaier.
He adds that crews haven’t noticed an uptick in such incidents despite the recent “pretty intense weather,” which has included snow squalls, rain and strong winds.
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