Seven feared dead as trawler sinks
Seven people are feared dead after a trawler sank off the Donegal coast.
Nine other members of the vessel's crew have been airlifted to safety.
The rescue operation went into action as the German-registered trawler Hansa got into difficulties and then went down approximately 100 miles off the coast of Donegal.
Sixteen people - one German and 15 Spanish nationals - were on board the vessel, which had originally sailed from the Spanish port of La Coruna.
A distress signal was picked up by the coastguard at 11.10pm on Monday and a rescue operation was co-ordinated from Clyde in Scotland.
A Coastguard helicopter was also scrambled from Stornoway, as was a Royal Naval helicopter from RNAS Prestwick. An Irish search and rescue helicopter also joined the rescue effort.
Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesman Mark Clark said: "Nine people were airlifted out of the water and seven are still missing.
"The nine who were recovered were all in a life-raft, and were all suffering from hypothermia. Some were wearing survival suits and some were not.
"They had been in the water for at least four hours and it is looking quite grim for the seven still missing."
