Thursday, March 23, 2006
Go Git 'Em
Indian villagers mobilize to rescue B.C. ferry riders
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARTLEY BAY, B.C. - In fishing boats and speed boats, the people of this small Indian village http://www.gitgaat.net/index.html headed into the stormy waters off British Columbia's north coast to help rescue 101 passengers and crew from a large British Columbia ferry that strayed off course, hit a rock and sank Wednesday.
David Hahn, president of B.C. Ferries, called the orderly rescue from the ferry's lifeboats and the fact that no one was seriously hurt miraculous.
Canadian coast guard spokesman Dan Bate said the southbound Queen of the North hit the rock without warning at 12:26 a.m. off Gil Island in Wright Sound, about 6½ miles southeast of here. The area is about 80 miles south of Prince Rupert and about 580 miles northwest of Seattle.
Passengers and crew aboard the 409-foot ship began boarding life rafts less than half an hour later, and were taken aboard local boats and the Canadian icebreaker Sir Wilfred Laurier, Bate said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARTLEY BAY, B.C. - In fishing boats and speed boats, the people of this small Indian village http://www.gitgaat.net/index.html headed into the stormy waters off British Columbia's north coast to help rescue 101 passengers and crew from a large British Columbia ferry that strayed off course, hit a rock and sank Wednesday.
David Hahn, president of B.C. Ferries, called the orderly rescue from the ferry's lifeboats and the fact that no one was seriously hurt miraculous.
Canadian coast guard spokesman Dan Bate said the southbound Queen of the North hit the rock without warning at 12:26 a.m. off Gil Island in Wright Sound, about 6½ miles southeast of here. The area is about 80 miles south of Prince Rupert and about 580 miles northwest of Seattle.
Passengers and crew aboard the 409-foot ship began boarding life rafts less than half an hour later, and were taken aboard local boats and the Canadian icebreaker Sir Wilfred Laurier, Bate said.
