3 Americans, dog saved in marine rescue near Victoria, B.C.

globalnews.ca:

Three Americans and a dog, who were onboard a sinking 40-vessel, were rescued Friday evening, just off the coast of Victoria, B.C.

Part of the 7 p.m. rescue was captured on video by U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Northwest, around three kilometres south of Victoria.

In the video, two of the passengers were seen being hoisted into a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, from a raft.

“There was a rescue callout, which was picked up by rescue services in Victoria. They let the U.S. Coast Guard know what was going on,” said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier. “We already had a helicopter airborne and (which was) able to head to the site quickly.”

The helicopter was in the area conducting training.

“The (helicopter) was not able to find anything at first as they only had a general location,” Strohmaier said. “They went back, refuelled quickly and came back to hoist the three people.”

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the three people who were rescued, two teenage girls and one adult woman, were showing signs of hypothermia and were transported to Victoria General Hospital.

The three had disembarked from Seattle and it is unclear their intentions in the water, Strohmaier said.

“They were not dressed for the conditions, thankfully, they had lifejackets on. The water was very cold,” Stohmaier said.

According to Stohmaier, a Canadian Coast Guard vessel was able to rescue the dog.

Global News has reached out to the Canadian Coast Guard for more information.