Multiple people are dead as a result of a plane crash on Gabriola Island on Tuesday evening.
At around 6:30 p.m. on December 10th, the small plane crashed on the north-west corner of the Island.
Upon arrival, RCMP and BC Coroners Service confirmed that multiple plane passengers and crew died as a result of the crash. According to BC Coroners Service there are no known fatalities or injuries among people on the ground.
The investigation into the incident is being led by the Transportation Safety Board who will be arriving on Gabriola Island at around 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 11th.
Gabriola RCMP are securing the scene of the crash until their arrival.
“The BC Coroners Service has also been notified of multiple fatalities and is in the preliminary stages of its fact-finding investigation to determine who died, and how, where, when and by what means the deceased came to their sudden, unexpected deaths,” reads a statement from RCMP.
According to BC Coroners Service, RCMP have indicated that there are no survivors from the plane, and the Coroners Service will be able to verify that information once they arrive on site.
They are expected to arrive on Gabriola Island today.
While there is no official word on where the plane was from or how many passengers it was carrying, information from online Flight Radar 24 shows that a twin-engine Piper Aerostar flight from somewhere near southern California disappeared at around 6 p.m.Tuesday around the zone of the crash.
Weather reports indicate that conditions around the Gulf Islands and Nanaimo were extremely foggy on Tuesday evening.
Gabriola Island is one of several Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia, located approximately 5 km off the coast of Nanaimo.
The island is home to around 4,000 people and spans an area of 57.6 sq km.
