Two dead, two missing off Galway coast

A second body has been found off the Galway coast.

Rescue teams recovered the body of a second fisherman today on an island off the coast of Galway after a trawler ran aground.

Local people who joined the search found the man’s body on rocks just off Duck Island at around 11am. Another man was found dead in the same area hours beforehand.

Two other men who were on board the 65ft fishing boat, Saint Oliver, are missing feared drowned.

Lifeboat crews, coastguard helicopters, Gardai and hundreds of local people are continuing the search.

The timber framed vessel ran aground on a dangerous reef near Mweenish Island off the Connemara coast at around 11pm last night.

A coastguard spokesman said the boat was split in two after being battered by heavy seas and gale force winds.

The crew had been making the short trip from Carna to Ross A Mhil, Co Galway, when a storm forced the vessel on to the rocks.

An Air Corps helicopter joined the search at first light along with the Arann Island lifeboat and three onshore search teams.

Weather conditions have eased after gale force winds hampered rescue teams through the night.

The search for the two missing men is being concentrated around an area south of Mweenish Island where much debris from the boat has been recovered.

One liferaft was found inflated near the wreckage of the boat and another was found on board.