PAt least seven people have died and 14 have been missing since dawn Tuesday after the ship they were following sank off Canada, about 450 kilometers from the island of Newfoundland, Spanish newspapers said. Country. The first follow-up data shows four dead and 17 missing.

According to the sub-delegation of the Spanish Government in Pontevedra, Maica Larriba, this is the ship ‘Villa de Pitanxo’, from the company from the city of Marín, in Galiciafollowed by 24 people.

So far, they only three crew members saved alive. “Four lifeboats were seen and they already had access to three. Two empty, completely empty. In one of them, three survivors were found in a state of hypothermia, because the water temperature there was very bad. Very low”, said Maica Larriba.

Of the total crew of 24, 16 are Spanish, five Peruvian and three Ghanaian..

Maritime and airborne equipment were deployed to rescue 24 crew members of the fishing boat Villa de Pitanxo which had sunk about 450 kilometers ESE from Newfoundland. It is a fishing vessel 50 meters long with a base port at Marín (Pontevedra). pic.twitter.com/YnGSqlmVXz

— MARITIME SAVE (@salvamentogob) February 15, 2022

The warning was received by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Madrid at 05:45 local time. [4h45 em Lisboa]. Two fishing boats were involved in the search, including the Portuguese vessel ‘Novo Virgem da Barca’, from Aveiro, and the Galician vessel ‘Playa de Menduiña 2’..

The cause of the sinking of the ship measuring 50 meters long and 10 meters wide is not yet known.

On social network Twitter, the president of the Junta de Galicia, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, declared himself “concerned by the bad news” and provided “the government and shipowners with all the tools they needed”.

We are still disappointed by the bad news that has come to us from Canada for the sinking of the Marin ship ‘Villa de Pitanxo’.

We provide Governments and shipowners with all the tools they need @Xunta.

All our support for the family

– Alberto Núñez Feijoo (@FeijooGalicia) February 15, 2022

The mayor of Marín, María Ramallo, also regretted what had happened. “I don’t remember a tragedy of this magnitude. It’s a very difficult day,” he told reporters.

Minister for Territorial Policy and government spokeswoman, Isabel Rodríguez, told a news conference that government “follows closely” search and rescue operations from the crew.

“I would like to inform you that the government is closely following the crew rescue operation. We are in permanent contact with the rescue team. I can confirm that three crew members were rescued, but I can’t add any other information,” he said, after the Council of Ministers.

Read also: At least four people died in a Galician fishing boat that sank in Canada