Kanadalainen lautta upposi myrskyavalla merella Brittilaisen Kolumbian rannikolla eilen. Matkustajia oli noin sata henkea ja miehisto sen paalle. Ihme ja kumma kaikki saatiin pelastettua (tanaan olen kuullut, etta ehka kaksi matkustajaa hukkui), vaikka laiva upposi hyvin nopeasti - noin tunnin sisalla siita, kun se oli ajanut karille. Keskella yota matkustajat ohjattiin hyteistaan kannelle ja pelastusveneisiin, vain yopuvut ja takit paalla. Merivesi on hyytavan kylmaa, joten jos matkustajat olisivat joutuneet veden varaan pelastusliiveineenkin, olisi kolea kuolema tullut hyvin nopeasti.
Laheisella rannalla oleva pikkukyla - intiaanireservaatti - herasi kesken unien, ja ryhtyi pikaisesti pelastustoimintaan. Noin 80 paikallista lahti veneineen hyytavaan ja myrskyavaan yohon noutamaan matkustajia pelastusveneista. Loput kylalaiset jarjestivat peittoja, kuumaa kahvia ja ruokaa kylan monitoimitalolle, ja auttoivat loukkaantuneita ja palelevia matkustajia.
Mahtava tarina! Urheus ja lahimmaisenrakkaus ovat viela voimissaan.
STEVE SIMMONS / SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLE TIMES
The Queen of the North heads northbound last year in Grenville Channel, about 10 miles north of where it sank last night.
Editorial
It took a village
Forty minutes after midnight, winds howling 45 miles per hour, seas choppy, the tiny community of Hartley Bay joined the Canadian Coast Guard and rescued 101 passengers and crew from a sinking British Columbia ferry. Their actions were nothing short of remarkable.
The Queen of the North, a large B.C. ferry, was traveling from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy in British Columbia's Inside Passage when it hit a rock and began taking on water. Within a half hour of hitting the rock, passengers and crew boarded life rafts in an orderly fashion. Good thing, because the boat sank in about an hour. Many passengers were taken aboard the Canadian icebreaker Sir Wilfred Laurier, which was in the area. Its crew did a spectacular job.
The Canadian Coast Guard vessel was greatly helped by the Lone Star, a fishing boat from Hartley Bay. Fishermen pulled passengers from life rafts and took them to the community center in town, where townspeople came rushing with extra blankets, food and hot coffee.
After someone in Hartley Bay picked up the ship's emergency distress call, the entire village of Hartley Bay, an Indian reservation of several hundred people accessible only by air and water, kicked into action. Some 80 residents took speedboats out into the darkness to rescue passengers from rafts — a breathtaking display of compassion and bravery.
Early reports said there were no major injuries and no loss of life. Some passengers treated at the community center were in shock; a few needed help for minor injuries.
Swift and selfless action prevented a tragedy. This is a true story of pluck and valor.
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