Three submarine crew members airlifted to hospital

THREE crew members of the crippled secondhand Canadian submarine drifting towards the Co Mayo coastline were airlifted to Sligo General Hospital last night.

One of the men was said to be in a critical condition following the fire which broke out on board the vessel on Tuesday as the former British navy diesel-powered sub was being sailed from Scotland to Halifax in Nova Scotia.

A spokeswoman for the hospital last night said: “The three men landed on the helicopter deck at the hospital almost an hour ago and were rushed in - one of them is in a critical conditions and the other two walked in. Doctors are seeing them just now.”