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Two men died and three others were last night feared dead after their
trawler sank in a Force 9 gale off the Westcountry coast.
Rescuers said they could have saved the lives of fishermen if the men
had been wearing life jackets.
The French trawler the Bugaled Breizh had been sheltering from bad weather
at Newlyn, and yesterday, its skipper decided conditions had improved
enough to leave. But at 12.40pm, Falmouth Coastguard received a distress
call from the French fishing vessel Eridan, which had seen the Bugaled
Breizh capsize and sink.
A huge emergency operation was launched, concentrated on the spot where
an emergency beacon on the 60-foot Brittany stern trawler had gone off.
The bodies of two of the crew were found in the water.
As night fell, the search for the other three crewmen was called off
and hope for their survival had faded.
The crew of a rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose, which picked up the
two bodies, said they believed the men would have stood a good chance
of survival if they had been wearing their life jackets.
Captain and observer Lt Cmdr Dave Cunningham, from 771 Squadron, said:
"The saddest thing about this was that we were there so very quickly
after the initial beacon went off and had they both been wearing the necessary
life preserving equipment I am satisfied we would have got there in time
and been able to save them.
"That makes the crew both sad and angry."
He said there was little sign of the wreckage apart from some debris,
a diesel slick and an empty life raft.
The Lizard and Penlee Lifeboats joined the huge search, in winds gusting
up to severe Gale Force 9 and waves 25ft high, for around six hours, before
returning back to their stations as darkness fell.
Lizard coxswain Philip Burgess said: "It was hellish out there -
it doesn't make life easy when you're trying to search. We were one hour
away from the scene and an hour is a long time if you're in the water
in those conditions.
"It's a terrible thing to have happened, terrible for those families
back home.
"Whatever happened, happened so quick both men did not have time
to get their life jackets on. We picked one up from out of the water,"
he said.
Also taking part in the search were a search and rescue helicopter from
RAF Chivenor, North Devon, the Falmouth-based coastguard emergency towing
vessel Anglian Princess, several other fishing vessels, merchant navy
boats, a Dutch submarine, a car carrier, and fisheries protection vessel
HMS Tyne.
The lifeboats had to battle with the winds gusting up to about 48 knots
(55 mph). Peter Greenslade, honorary secretary of the Lizard Lifeboat,
said sea conditions were "horrendous" and the search vessels
were "riding into the teeth of the gale".
Captain Andrew Munsen, Newlyn Harbourmaster, has known the crew of the
Bugaled Breizh for several years.
He said: "The owner of the vessel has been off sick for some time
and he is home and I have the unfortunate task of ringing him up and telling
him about the sad loss."
article copyright © WESTERN MORNING NEWS
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