The RCMP dive team recovered the 89-year-old driver and only occupant of the vehicle that crashed through a barrier at the Mill Bay ferry terminal on Friday morning and went into the water.
The incident, which claimed the man’s life, happened at 8:10 a.m. when a white SUV drove through the secured barrier at the top of the trestle at a high rate of speed.
He has now been identified as John William Barton, aged 89, from the Victoria suburb of Saanich.
A RCMP Dive Team found Barton still in his vehicle in about 20 metres of water. He was deceased at the scene.
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The BC Coroners Service continues to investigate this death.
The MV Klitsa had departed the terminal, bound for Brentwood Bay, at about 8:05 a.m. and was about a mile-and-a-half out in the inlet at the time.
BC Ferries says the shore-side ramp was in a raised position. After breaking through the closed gate, the vehicle travelled down the trestle and launched itself off the ramp into the water and reportedly sank.
Ferry service between Mill Bay and Brentwood Bay has now resumed.
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