Weather hampers search for missing Dutch man

The stormy weather which may have swept one Dutch holidaymaker to his death and resulted in another man going missing has hampered search efforts, with galeforce winds expected to batter the West Cork coast today.

The massive search centring on missing Dutchmen Roland Deckers and Othman Rahmouni, off the coastline of Sheep’s Head — about 35km southeast of Bantry — was suspended shortly after 1pm yesterday amid safety fears.

With winds of up to violent storm force 11 or even hurricane force 12 expected today, search coordinators decided yesterday to suspend all search activity until at least 9am tomorrow.