5 Britons dead in whale-watching capsize

Five Britons have died and a sixth person was missing and feared dead after a whale-watching boat carrying 27 people capsized near Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast.

The search and rescue operation was called off Monday after 21 survivors were plucked from the water, Lieutenant Commander Desmond James of the Coast Guard's rescue center in the provincial capital Victoria told AFP.

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police dive team later took over, scouring the ocean bed and the rugged coastline nearby for any sign of the missing sixth person, who has yet to be identified.

Officials admitted there was little chance the passenger would be found alive, almost 24 hours after the Leviathan II sent out a distress call to say it was sinking.

"We still remain hopeful, but we have to assume the worst," said RCMP Corporal Janelle Shoihet.

Federal Transportation Safety Board (TSB) investigators, meanwhile, secured the site of the wreckage.

In London, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the four men and a woman who perished in the capsize were all British citizens.

"My thoughts are with the family and friends of all those affected by this terrible accident," Hammond said in a statement.

Two of the victims were Canadian residents while the other three were tourists, said the British Columbia coroner's office. They were aged 18 to 76.

The Leviathan II went down some 12 kilometers (seven miles) off Tofino, a resort town on the western edge of Vancouver Island.

Owned by Jamie's Whaling Station and Adventure Centres, the 20-meter (65-foot) cruise vessel was reportedly out on one of its last tours of the season, which ends October 31.

"This particular boat has done this exact same trip for 20 years twice a day... Yesterday was no different than any other day," said tour company owner Jamie Bray

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