London: Eight crew members have died and five are missing after their fishing boat encountered bad weather near the Falkland Islands, east of Argentina, Spanish authorities said on Tuesday.
Rescuers recovered eight dead bodies along with 14 survivors, according to national authorities in Spain’s Galicia region, citing Falklands maritime authorities. According to them, five people are still missing.
The dead include two people from Galicia, authorities said, while two of the missing are also from the northwestern region of Spain.
There were 10 Spanish passengers on board, the country’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said, adding that some were scientists.
The rescued were in good health with only “minor injuries” and were taken to the archipelago’s capital, Stanley, to undergo medical checks, Galician authorities said.
Crew members abandoned the Argos Georgia vessel due to “uncontrolled flooding” shortly after 4:00 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) on Monday and took life rafts, the Falkland Islands government said.
A British military vessel and two fishing boats “were able to rescue a number of crew,” the British overseas territory’s government said on Tuesday.
The vessel was approximately 200 nautical miles east of the Falkland Islands capital of Stanley at the time.
Two British Royal Air Force aircraft were tracking and reporting the location of the lifeboats, while several naval vessels took part in search operations, Falklands said in an earlier statement.
A search and rescue helicopter that initially attempted to rescue some of the affected crew members from the scene late on Monday failed due to “extremely challenging weather conditions.
Robert Ervik, owner of the Argos Georgia, confirmed to AFP that 27 people were on board the ship, which flies the flag of St Helena, another British overseas territory. The boat, built in Turkey in 2018, is nearly 54 meters (177 feet) long and can accommodate 28 people, according to owners British-Norwegian fishing firm Argos Froyanes.
