Four bodies found from sunken trawler

Rescuers searching for the crew of a sunken fishing trawler in the Atlantic have found a further two bodies.

A total of four bodies have now been recovered from the Atlantic, a spokeswoman for Clyde coastguard said.

She added that the search for the remaining two crew members is continuing.

The search team earlier found another man alive having survived more than 12 hours in the icy water. The hopes of rescuers had earlier been lifted after they found the survivor alive at around 12.15pm.

He was spotted by the crew of a Nimrod aircraft from RAF Kinloss and a life raft was dropped to him before he was picked up from the water.

RAF spokesman Michael Mulford described that rescue as exceptional and said those involved in the international rescue effort had been thrilled.

He said: "This man has been in the water since before midnight. He really must have the survival instinct - this is quite exceptional in the history of search and rescue operations."

The alarm was first raised last night when the German-registered Hansa sent a distress signal 240 miles west of Tiree in the Western Isles.

Several life rafts were dropped into the water and the nine men were rescued and taken to a military reception centre on Benbecula in the Western Isles.

A helicopter from Shannon in the Republic of Ireland has also joined the rescue effort and surface vessels, three from Norway and one British, are also at the scene. Sixteen people - one German and 15 Spanish - were on board the vessel.