THE VICTIMS:
David Thomas, 50, a Microsoft employee, and his son Stephen, 18, were among five British nationals who died in the sinking.
A man who worked for Microsoft and his son, an avid photographer.
A retired navy engineer and entrepreneur.
The B.C. Coroners Service identified them Tuesday as being among the five people whose bodies have been recovered following the sinking of Leviathan II off Tofino on Sunday at Plover Reefs. All five were British nationals.
A man from Australia is still missing; 21 people survived.
The Transportation Safety Board, RCMP and the B.C. Coroners Service are investigating why the vessel went down.
An initial investigation suggests those who died were on the top deck of the 65-foot-long boat and were not wearing life-jackets, coroner Matt Brown said.
“They were on the top deck, which is an open deck, as opposed to the lower deck, which is enclosed with windows surrounding it,” he said.
“In terms of regulations, as I understand, [wearing life-jackets] is not required on this kind of vessel,” Brown said.
“Will that be part of an ongoing investigation? I’m certain it will be and it will be part of the interviews and investigation to follow.”
He said Leviathan II was equipped with life-jackets and there were enough for everyone on board.
David Thomas, 50, and his 18-year-old son, Stephen, were visiting from the U.K. when they died.
The family’s church released a statement on Tuesday. “It is with great sadness that we have to report the death of two active members of the Gateway community,” said Gateway Church Swindon in Wiltshire, U.K.
The church said Thomas’s wife, Julie, was rescued and is in hospital with minor injuries.
“Our deepest sympathies, love and prayers go out to Julie and her older son Paul, and their wider family at this time. These two men brought smiles and encouragement to all who knew them and they will be greatly missed.”
Thomas was a managing architect with Microsoft United Kingdom. Michael Van der Bel, head of Microsoft U.K., said in a statement that the company is shocked and saddened by the deaths.
“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with their family, friends and David’s colleagues, and we will be doing everything we can to support them.”
Britain’s Telegraph newspaper said Stephen Thomas, who had Down syndrome, died two weeks shy of his 19th birthday.
The teen was a talented photographer who won a national competition last year for a photo he took in Alberta of Banff National Park’s Morraine Lake, said Carol Boys, CEO of the Down’s Syndrome Association in Britain.
Another victim was Jack Slater, 76, a British national living in Toronto.
His daughter, Michele Slater Brown of Milton, Ont., posted a message on Facebook saying she was notified about her father’s death “in the wee hours this morning,” and called him “larger than life, a charmer, handsome, entrepreneur, engineer in the navy … and a lovely dad.” Slater’s wife, Marjorie, was among the survivors.
Katie Taylor, a 29-year-old Briton living in Whistler, and 63-year-old Nigel Hooker of Southampton, England, also died when Leviathan II sank.
Taylor was originally from Lichfield, Staffordshire, and had recently moved to Whistler.
Hooker worked in information technology and was aboard with a daughter and her boyfriend from Australia, the U.K. Mirror newspaper reported.
The daughter survived but her boyfriend is missing.
The Australian Associated Press said the missing man is a 27-year-old from Sydney.