Nine Dead after Spanish Fishing Boat Sinks off Falklands

Madrid, 24 Jul (ONA) --- Nine people have died and four more are missing after a Spanish fishing boat sank in the South Atlantic Ocean, a Spanish government official has said.

The 27-member crew abandoned the Argos Georgia and took to life rafts when it started taking on water last Monday, about 200 nautical miles off the coast of the Falkland Islands, BBC news reported.

Pedro Blanco, the Spanish government's representative in the north-western region of Galicia, said that 14 of those on board had survived.

Officials on the Falklands said a number had been rescued by a fisheries patrol vessel and two other fishing boats, and that the search continued for the other missing crew members.

The Falkland Islands government - a British overseas territory - had earlier described conditions in the South Atlantic as "extremely challenging", including gale-force winds and waves reported to be 8m (26ft) high.

A military helicopter had to abandon search and rescue operations because of the sea conditions and the distance from land. It had returned to the Falklands to refuel, but had to suspend its mission because of the deteriorating weather.

The Spanish government said 10 of the crew were from Spain, eight were Russians, five were from Indonesia and the others were from Uruguay and Peru.

Falkland Islands officials, who were co-ordinating the rescue, did not initially confirm any of the deaths, but sent their thoughts to all the families involved.

Two of the Spanish crew had died and another two were among the missing, according to Pedro Blanco, who said the four were all from Galicia.

Those rescued would be brought to Port Stanley for treatment in hospital, officials said.

Thirteen of the survivors were being brought back to port on the patrol vessel Lilibet while another was on board the fishing boat Robin M Lee, which, like the Argos Georgia, is based in Galicia.

The Argos Georgia had left Port Stanley last Sunday night heading for fishing grounds, according to ship tracking website Marine Traffic.

Spanish reports suggest it had unloaded its cargo at Port Stanley and had returned to resume fishing when the boat's hull began to leak, leading to what officials called "uncontrolled flooding".

A distress call was put out last Monday afternoon, prompting an air and sea rescue co-ordinated by the UK Coastguard, the British military, the governments of the Falklands and South Georgia.

The crew took to life rafts and hours later, the boat went down.

--- Ends/Khalid