One dead, 5 missing after ship sinks in Irish Sea

Two people who were clinging to life rafts were rescued and airlifted to RAF Valley on Anglesey.

London: A cargo vessel sank amid bad weather in the Irish Sea, leaving one person dead while an air-and-sea search was on for five other Russian crew members, coastguard officials said Sunday.

The crew of the 81-metre carrier, the Swanland, raised the alarm early today when the vessel was off the north Wales coast.

They reported the hull was thought to have cracked in bad weather and the ship was taking on water.

The carrier, with 3,000 tonnes of limestone onboard, disappeared 32 kilometres north-west off the Lleyn peninsula.

Two members of the Russian crew of the Cook Islands-registered vessel were pulled from the water soon after the alarm was raised.

They were airlifted to safety by Prince William`s Sea King helicopter and were later taken to hospital in Bangor for precautionary checks.

Another crew member was found in the water later in the morning but has been confirmed as dead, said the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

An air-and-sea search for five men missing from a sunken cargo carrier off the coast of north Wales has continued after the body of a sixth was found, BBC reported.

Four RNLI lifeboats, four search and rescue helicopters and two commercial boats were taking part in the search, it said.

PTI

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