Five Britons have been confirmed as being killed when a whale-watching boat sank off the coast of western Canada.
The vessel carrying 24 passengers and three crew members people sank off Tofino on Vancouver Island on Sunday.
Barbara McLintock from the British Columbia coroner’s office, said the victims ranged in age from 18 to 76.
Three were tourists on holiday from the UK, while two were British nationals living in Canada – one woman from British Columbia and a man from Ontario, the BBC reported.
The boat, Leviathan II, made a mayday call before sinking about eight miles west of Tofino. Sea conditions at the time were reported to be calm.
Emergency officials said 21 people had been rescued and one other person was still missing.
Authorities say they do not know what caused the accident, which is still being investigated by Canada’s Transportation Safety Board.
Foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said: “It is with deep sadness that I can confirm five British nationals have lost their lives when the whale-watching boat they were on sank off Western Canada on Sunday.
“My thoughts are with the family and friends of all those affected by this terrible accident.”
Hammond said consular staff in British Columbia were supporting the family members of those who had died and were in close contact with the Canadian authorities.
The 65ft boat was operated by Jamie’s Whaling Station & Adventure Centres.
Operations director, Corene Inouye, said in a statement on the company’s website: “We know the vessel was operating normally prior to the accident, and was near the end of a regularly scheduled whale watching trip including a scheduled stop at Plover Reef.?
“To the best of our knowledge there was no distress call. From what we know at this stage it appears that the incident happened so quickly, the crew didn’t have an opportunity to send out a mayday.
“We can tell you that the skipper of the MV Leviathan II has over 20 years whale watching experience in these waters – 18 years with our company. The other two crew have five years and three years of experience.
“All are licensed by Transport Canada and go through rigorous training as well as bi-weekly safety drills and exercises.”