Three investigators from the Transportation Safety Board are expected to arrive early this afternoon at the scene of a plane crash which officials say took several lives off the east coast of Vancouver Island.

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The BC Coroners Service and the RCMP confirm there were multiple fatalities when the small plane went down around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday on the northwest corner of Gabriola Island.

Few details were immediately available about the size or type of the plane or the number of passengers.

Coroners Service spokesman Andy Watson said in a statement that the department was in the preliminary stages of finding out who died and under what circumstances.

RCMP spokesman Cpl. Chris Manseau says the area where the plane went down is primarily a residential neighbourhood.

He says there is no indication that people were forced from their homes because of the crash.

B次元官网网址淣obody that was on the ground that weB次元官网网址檙e aware of was injured,B次元官网网址� he said Wednesday.

Gabriola Island is about a 15-kilometre ferry ride east of Nanaimo. Manseau said he understands that BC Ferries was contacted soon after the crash and a scheduled supper-hour trip to the island was held back to allow more emergency service personnel to board and get to the crash site.

B次元官网网址淚n very short order we had a full crew of paramedics and firefighters from Nanaimo who actually headed to Gabriola Island.B次元官网网址�

The site was cordoned off prior to Transport Safety Board investigators moving in.

B次元官网网址淚 would assume an airplane crash is going to have a pretty significant area for a debris field,B次元官网网址� Manseau said.

Bette Lou Hagen, who lives in the area, said she was reading a novel when she heard B次元官网网址渓ike a loud sonic boom or something.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 heard a loud engine B次元官网网址� it didnB次元官网网址檛 sound like a car engine B次元官网网址� but it was really shaking my house and then I heard a loud crash. Then B次元官网网址� I donB次元官网网址檛 how much later it was B次元官网网址� I heard an explosion,B次元官网网址� she said.

She went outside but could not see much because the area has a lot of trees, and then called the police.

The plane crashed about 50 metres from her backyard, she said.

B次元官网网址淚t was pretty awful. IB次元官网网址檓 still shaking.B次元官网网址�

The Canadian Press

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