3 dead after fishing boat sinks near Quebec's Lower North Shore
Three people are dead after a fishing vessel capsized and sank just off La Tabatière, on Quebec's Lower North Shore, Quebec provincial police say. Three others were taken to hospital in Corner Brook, N.L.
The Canadian Coast Guard says the vessel was the 18-metre-long Silver Condor, from Blanc-Sablon, Que. The ship was built in 1983 and rebuilt in 2005.
"It's definitely difficult, it's a small community so any loss affects many people," said Blanc-Sablon Mayor Andrew Etheridge.
He told CBC that his cousin, a father of three, was among those who died.
A distress signal was received around 2:30 a.m. Monday morning. Two Coast Guard vessels and an Armed Forces Cormorant helicopter were dispatched to the scene. The ship went down about 20 nautical miles offshore, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, according to the Coast Guard.
The cause of the sinking remains unknown, but police believe there was no criminal cause.
A coroner will be assigned to the case, and there will be investigations by the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) and Quebec's workplace safety board, the CNESST.
The TSB said it is still gathering information to determine if an investigation will be warranted.
