The death toll in the sinking of a Galician fishing boat off Canada has risen to seven, said the president of the Galician Junta, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, citing figures provided by Spain’s ambassador to the country.
“Seven people were found dead, three still alive on the makeshift boat and the rest [12] missing”, said the Galician president, in a statement at the entrance of his party’s national headquarters in Madrid, to participate in the Popular Party Executive (PP) meeting.
According to Núñez Feijóo, the ambassador also informed him that “a ship with all the technical characteristics for rescue and also a helicopter” was on its way to the wreck area.
Fishing boat “Villa de Pitanxo”
The fishing vessel “Villa de Pitanxo”, based in Marín (Pontevedra) and owned by the Galician owner Manuel Nores, sank at around 6:00 am in Spain (less than an hour in Lisbon) as recorded by the ship’s beacon, which has a crew of 22, according to the representative of the government delegation in Pontevedra, Maica Larriba.
An hour earlier, explained the representative of the delegation, “contact with the ship’s blue box was cut off”.
Several fishing boats in the area also participated in the rescue work, including one from Portugal and another from Marín, the home port of “Villa de Pitanxo”.
Three of the four lifeboats were recovered hours later, Larriba added, but two of them were “completely empty” and the third carried only three survivors.
Canadian authorities are now following the fourth raft, but so far it has not been found.
“The situation in Newfoundland waters is very bad,” the deputy said, pointing out that it was “still dawn” in the area, meaning that Canadian rescue ships and helicopters “were unable to gather information until recently.” .
Three people saved in “hypothermic shock”
The three rescued crew members were in “hypothermic shock”, according to the representative, because the water temperature was so low.
The ship’s crew of 22 includes 12 Spaniards, eight Peruvians and two Ghanaians, according to Maritime Salvage documentation.
