A 76-year-old man born in Salford has been named as one of the people killed in a Canadian whale-watching tragedy.
Retired Navy engineer Jack Slater was killed when the 65ft boat, carrying 27 people, sank near Tofino, off the west coast of British Colombia in Canada on Sunday.
Four other Britons, including 29-year-old Katie Taylor, and father and son David and Stephen Thomas from Swindon, were also killed in the accident off Vancouver Island.
It’s thought a freak wave could have caused the boat to overturn, spilling the tourists into the sea, but accident investigators are still trying to find out why the boat capsized.
Jack was born in Salford but lived in Ontario, Canada, for many years.
It’s understood his wife Marjory survived the tragedy and is being treated in hospital.
Daughter Michele Slater Brown, who was raised in Horwich, Bolton, paid tribute to her father on Facebook.
She posted: “Our hearts are broken today, our father was one of the people who lost their lives on the whale watching tragedy in Tofino.
“Our Dad was larger than life, a charmer, handsome, entrepreneur, engineer in the Navy, he was 76 years old, he was our Dad, our lovely Dad, I will miss him forever but I’m grateful for all the times I spent with him, I love you dad.
“We loved and looked up to him so much, he was an adventurer, he lived his life his way, I’m so sorry he had to die in this way, it’s a tragedy beyond belief, I’m proud of who he was and who he created, my sisters are strong and we will continue to live our lives, alway with him in our minds and hearts.”
