Three people were ejected from a pleasure craft and five are in hospital after the cigarette powerboat they were riding in struck a log boom early Sunday off the north side of Mitchell Island in Richmond.
Vancouver police received a call reporting a vessel damaged and three people holding on to the logs shouting for help in the frigid waters of the Fraser River.
An officer with the coast guard said the VPD contacted them at 12: 50 a.m. and a fast craft arrived at 1: 19 a.m. to rescue the passengers.
"We put out a mayday right away,'' said John Millman, maritime co-ordinator at the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre.
"It was reported through police there were some people in the water yelling ... and we took the report, responded, and basically dealt with it in 45 minutes,'' he said.
Two people were seriously hurt in the accident, including a spinal injury and a chest injury.
Four coast guard vessels were dispatched in the rescue, including two hovercraft.
There is no word on whether speed or alcohol were factors in the crash.
