AKIPRESS.COM - There have been multiple fatalities after a whale-watching boat carrying 27 people sank off Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canadian authorities said Sunday.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Center, operated by the Canadian Coast Guard and Armed Forces, said authorities were continuing their search until everyone is accounted for. There were survivors, the agency said, although it did not say how many.

CBC News, quoting the rescue coordination center, reported that at least four people had died.

Eight survivors were taken to Tofino General Hospital, according to Valerie Wilson, spokeswoman for Island Health, which operates the hospital. Wilson said all eight were stable, though one was in serious condition.

"The situation remains very fluid and numbers remain very unclear," Barbara McClintock, spokeswoman for the B.C. Coroners Service, said in an email.