An elderly man who died after a boating accident off the south coast of Ireland was on a fishing trip with family.
The 73-year-old man from Salisbury, Wiltshire, was with seven other men, a woman and a teenage boy when the rigid inflatable was swamped by a wave off the Wexford coast. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) believes the group had been in the water for about five hours before being pulled out by crew on a local ferry, who were also lifeboat volunteers.
The alarm was raised after the group failed to return to the fishing port of Kilmore Quay and, about an hour later, the passenger vessel An Crossan found them clinging to the hull of their 18ft craft half a mile off the Great Saltee island. All of them were wearing lifejackets.
The elderly man was pulled on to the ferry, which operates to the Saltee Islands and, within minutes, transferred to an RNLI lifeboat then airflifted by the Irish Coast Guard to University Hospital Waterford. He later died.
Aidan Bates, of Kilmore Quay RNLI, said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in this incident and we would like to wish them all a speedy recovery from their ordeal. The party had done the right thing in letting someone know when they were due back and thankfully, as a result of that, the alarm was able to be raised.”
The elderly man was among the group, believed to be members of his extended family, who had been in Wexford for a get-together and had travelled to Kilmore Quay for a fishing trip.
They went to sea at 4pm on Saturday and were due back before sunset. Their failure to return prompted a relative to call emergency services.
The lifeboat from Kilmore was making its way towards the Coningmore Rocks off the Wexford coast when the radio call came from the ferry that an upturned hull had been spotted and the anglers were in the water. It is understood the group could be heard shouting after the ferry’s lights went out briefly during the search and rescue.
Lifeboat crews reported that the fishing boat capsized after being swamped by a wave that broke the windows of the wheelhouse, tossing the anglers into the sea. Weather conditions at the time of the rescue were overcast and there was a force 2-3 south-westerly wind blowing, the RNLI said.
Several of those rescued were suffering from shock and were treated for the effects of hypothermia after spending hours in the water.
Ireland’s Marine Casualty Investigation Board will conduct an inquiry. Local gardai were liaising with the group to ensure next of kin were informed.