Three killed as boat catches fire

An Irishman and two men from Europe were killed tonight after a boat caught fire on waters off Co Cork today.

The tragedy occurred in Bantry Bay near Adrigole harbour at about 5.30pm.

A fourth man on the 25ft motor cruiser survived, a local lifeboat spokesman said.

The Shannon-based coastguard rescue helicopter, which had been on a separate mission in the Caha mountains on the Beara peninsula, was on the scene within minutes of the alarm being raised.

An RNLI lifeboat crew from nearby Castletownbere, a Customs surveillance boat and a French-registered yacht joined the rescue attempt.

The helicopter crew winched the four men from the water.

The only survivor, described by those involved in the rescue as walking wounded, was rushed to Cork University Hospital.

Paul Stevens, from Castletownbere RNLI, said the motor cruiser sank shortly after the rescue attempt.

“By the time the rescue helicopter came on the scene very quickly the four casualties were in the water,” he said. “Whether they abandoned ship we don’t know.”

An RNLI spokeswoman said the Castletownbere lifeboat crew was paged at 5.41pm.

The boat sank a short while later off Roancarrig, about seven miles from the fishing port.

Conditions were calm at the time with some light fog in the bay, the spokeswoman said.

Officials from the Marine Casualty Investigation Board will carry out an inquiry into the incident.

It is understood investigations will centre on whether an explosion in the engine caused the fire.