Spanish fishing boat sinks off Canada amid strong waves killing 10, 11 still missing

Nearly ten people have lost their lives when a Spanish fishing boat sank on early Tuesday amid strong waves off the coast of Newfoundland in eastern Canada, according to officials. Following the tragic incident, three crew members have been rescued from a lifeboat, while, a marine search and rescue operation for the remaining 11 crew members is still underway in heavy waters, CBS News reported. As per Spanish media reports, the crew of 24 members included 16 Spaniards, as well as Peruvian and Ghanaian nationalities. 

Maica Larriba, Spain's regional representative informed Spanish public radio that the 50-meter-long fishing vessel 'Villa de Pitanxo', which works out of northwest Spain's Galicia area, sank around 1 a.m. (local time). Furthermore, a helicopter, a Hercules-type aircraft, as well as a rescue ship have been deployed to the location, which is 450 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland, by a rescue centre managed by Canada's air force and coast guard in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, seven individuals had been confirmed to be dead. The rescue centre further reported on Twitter on Tuesday evening that three additional bodies had been discovered, bringing the total number of dead to ten. 

Strong winds, heavy waves, and fog were impeding the search operation

As per the Spanish maritime search and rescue service Salvamento Maritimo, two distress alarms were received from the Villa de Pitanxo boat, BBC reported. Canada's Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) spokesperson, Lieutenant Commander Brian Owens, earlier stated that strong winds, heavy waves, and fog were impeding the search operation.  

According to Owens, three Cormorant helicopters were moving in and out of the searching region, whereas a provincial airlines plane and a C-130 Hercules were running sensor scans overhead. He went on to say that the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Cygnus was also on its way to the debris location to provide help, where "a lot" of other Spanish fishing vessels were aiding, CBS News.  

In addition to this, the three survivors, who were suffering from hypothermia, were discovered in a lifeboat and were safely airlifted by a Canadian coast guard helicopter. According to the daily La Voz de Galicia, the boat's 53-year-old skipper, as well as his 42-year-old nephew, were among the survivors. 

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed concern

Furthermore, officials claim that the first to reach the accident place was a Spanish fishing boat that was working near the sinking scene, which discovered three survivors and four corpses in one of the fishing vessel's four lifeboats. Two of the rescue boats were reported to be empty, while the fourth was missing. 

Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a tweet, “We are following with concern the search and rescue operation for the crew of the Galician ship that sunk in the waters of Newfoundland.” 

(Image: AP)