Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is investigating after two young Mi’kmaq fishermen died when their boat capsized near Bayfield, N.S.
The federal organization says it is deploying investigators to gather information about the incident.
Nova Scotia RCMP say that at approximately 3 p.m. on Monday, officers responded to a 911 call from a “frantic woman” indicating that a boat had capsized near Seagrass Lane and that there were people in the water.
RCMP, volunteer firefighters and Emergency Health Services responded to the scene.
Police say that upon arriving, officers spoke with a woman who was one of the three people in the vessel, a 16-foot skiff.
The woman was suffering the effects of water exposure and was soon transported to hospital by EHS.
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A witness soon located a man about 10 feet from shore, and he was pulled to the shore. At that time, police say the man was alive but unresponsive.
The man was transported to hospital and attempts were made to revive him, but he died at the hospital that evening.
A third person was located by an RCMP helicopter in the water near the capsized boat about 200 feet from shore.
The person was retrieved, but the second man was unresponsive. He was pronounced dead in the hospital that evening.
The Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation said on its Facebook page that the men — who they identify as Ozzy Clair and Niko Clair — were oyster fishing and that the woman is recovering in hospital.
The First Nation said band events have been cancelled, and a crisis team will be at Paqtnkek for a few days.
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RCMP say all three people were wearing personal floatation devices at the time of the incident.
In a press release, Cpl. Jennifer Clarke of the RCMP says the two men were 28 and 29 years old, respectively.
The RCMP’s investigation into the incident is ongoing.
—With files from the Canadian Press
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