The BC Coroners Service has confirmed that a body recovered at Vargas Island near Tofino, British Columbia, is that of missing Australian tourist Raveshan Morgan Pillay.
Pillay was with a group of tourists on the whale-watching vessel Leviathan II when it went down at Plover Ridge off Vargas Island on Oct. 25, 2015.
Five of the boat’s 27 occupants were confirmed deceased as a result of the incident. Despite extensive search efforts over the following days, Pillay was not found.
Ravisham Pillay was on the Tofino whale-watching boat Leviathan II with his British girlfriend, Danielle Hooker, and her father, Nigel Hooker. Danielle survived but her father was one of five whose bodies were pulled from the sea on Sunday night.
In the early evening of Nov. 18, 2015, surfers reported finding a body on the beach of Vargas Island. An investigation has established that it is the body of Pillay.
He is now confirmed as the sixth fatality.
Mr. Pillay was an Australian citizen. The other five deceased – four men and a woman – were all British nationals.
The BC Coroners Service, Transportation Safety Board and RCMP continue to investigate the circumstances that led to the deaths of the tourists
