VANCOUVER -- A New Year's Eve fire in a Vancouver Island apartment building has turned fatal.

The BC Coroners Service confirmed Friday in an email to CTV News that it has been notified of a death related to the fire that broke out at a multi-unit building on Lewis Street in Duncan Thursday afternoon.

The coroners service said it is "investigating to determine the facts," and declined to provide any additional information on the incident.

Ten ground ambulances and one air ambulance rushed to the scene of the fire Thursday afternoon. They transported a total of eight patients to hospital. One of them was airlifted from the scene in critical condition and another was transported to hospital in serious condition. The other six were in stable condition.

In a news release, North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP said the fire broke out just before 1 p.m.

No information on the cause of the fire has been released.