At least three people have died and seven more are missing after a fishing boat with 17 crew members on board capsized off central Portugal’s Atlantic coast on Wednesday.
The Portuguese Maritime Authority, which confirmed the incident, said those on the boat were in a state of shock, with two said to have suffered serious injuries.
The boat was located about two kilometres from the shore between São Pedro de Moel beach and Vieira beach, north of Lisbon.
The National Maritime Authority said rescuers were alerted to the situation at about 4:30 a.m, with four other fishing vessels nearby immediately beginning the search for survivors.
The emergency response included maritime police and coast guard boats, who rushed to the scene as the horror unfolded. Two boats from the Nazaré and Figueira da Foz Lifeguard Station were activated, as well as an aerial surveillance team from the local Nazaré Maritime Police Command and an aircraft from the Portuguese Air Force.
Rescuers from the “SeaWatch” Project, the National Maritime Authority, and the Forensic Diving Group of the Maritime Police also went to the site and searches are ongoing.
Cervaens da Costa, the Commander of Figueira da Foz said: “In any case, the proximity to the coast has some significance, there may also have been some natural influence from the sea, but that`s something we’ll be investigating.”
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