Two feared dead on B.C. ferry that sank

HARTLEY BAY, British Columbia – Two passengers remained unaccounted for today, a day after the ferry Queen of the North sank near this remote Inside Passage town, the head of B.C. Ferries said,

Ferry system chief executive David Hahn told a news conference in Prince Rupert that authorities fear Gerald Foisy and Shirley Rosette, both of 100 Mile House, British Columbia, may have died when the 409-foot ship sank after striking a rock in bad weather off the British Columbia coast.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Alain Beaulieu said, however, that an investigation is under way and authorities have not ruled out other possibilities.

He said authorities had not checked out all the rumors concerning Foisy and Rosette, including that they might not have boarded the ferry or they found their own way home from Hartley Bay, although the village is accessible only by air and boat.

But B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said the fact that the pair were still missing is "obviously deeply troubling," and that "it sounds like hopes are diminishing" the two would be found alive.

After striking a rock shortly after midnight, the Queen of the North rapidly took on water and sank about an hour after its 101 passengers and crew began taking to the lifeboats. They endured 45 mph winds and choppy seas until they were rescued by the Canadian coast guard and residents of this Indian community.

As of early today, 99 people from the ferry were accounted for, B.C. Ferries officials said.

Ferry officials had insisted Wednesday that everyone got off the ship safely and said the couple might have gone to Prince Rupert from Hartley Bay on their own. The matter was turned over to police as a missing persons case.

The 200 residents of Hartley Bay, home of the Gitk'a'ata Tribe, mobilized quickly after hearing the ferry's radio distress call, heading out in fishing boats and other small craft to help in the rescue. On shore, residents opened their cultural center and gathered food, blankets and clothing.

"We were all just sort of pulled out of the cabins," said Douglas Rice, 74, a retired Financial Times journalist from London. He and his wife, Sylvia, clambered into a wobbly life raft with a crew member and a retired Qantas flight attendant.

"It was fairly rough, the sea, but the worst part was the rain. There was quite heavy rain," said Rice, one of 101 passengers and crew members who spent more than an hour bobbing in life rafts off British Columbia's north coast early Wednesday.

Villagers scooped Rice and many other passengers into their vessels, returning over and over for more. Others were taken aboard the Canadian icebreaker Sir Wilfred Laurier, said Dan Bate, a Canadian coast guard spokesman.

The southbound ferry hit a rock at 12:26 a.m. off Gil Island in Wright Sound, about 61/2 miles southeast of Hartley Bay, Bate said. The area is about 80 miles south of Prince Rupert and about 580 miles northwest of Seattle.

Some ferry passengers with minor injuries were flown by helicopter from Hartley Bay to Prince Rupert, said Wally Bolton, a Hartley Bay resident who helped with the rescue. Health officials in Prince Rupert told Canadian Press 11 people were treated at a hospital for cuts and scrapes.

Capt. Trafford Taylor, executive vice president of operations, said the Queen of the North had strayed from the shipping channel. The Canadian federal Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Environment officials organized a spill response team Wednesday as oil spread over the water. Life jackets, cafeteria trays and paper floated in the slick.

The ferry, part of the province's extensive marine transport fleet, left Prince Rupert at 8 p.m. Tuesday for the overnight run to Port Hardy at the northern tip of Vancouver Island.

"We heard a crashing noise and the ship went to one side," passenger Lawrence Papineau said. "Then it was a louder crash ... and then everybody realized what was happening and the sirens went off.

"Within an hour, the ship actually tilted to the side, leveled out and it sunk down to the sixth deck, came back up like the Titanic, dipped and then it went under."

Ernie Westgarth, housing coordinator for Hartley Bay, said, everybody in the village took part in the rescue, "from small children to the elders, including some elders that couldn't even walk."

After daybreak, most passengers reboarded the Laurier to return to Prince Rupert.

B.C. Ferries: http://www.bcferries.com/

Hartley Bay: http://www.gitgaat.net/index.html