Three Killed In Cruiser Tragedy

Three men have died and one has been dramatically rescued after their cruiser fishing boat caught fire off the coast of County Cork yesterday evening.

The 25-foot ship sank in the waters south of Roundcarrig Lighthouse off Adrigole Harbour in Bantry Bay.

The four men were on a fishing trip when the tragedy occurred.

It is believed the fire broke behind the console area at the helm, but so far it is unclear what initially caused the fire.

The rescued man Ed Dzito, 46, is originally an American man from Connecticut, who has been living in Glengarriffe for some years. He was released from Bantry General Hospital this morning.

One of the victims is Irish, while two are from Germany. They have been named locally as Richard Harman from Glengarriffe, and Germans Mike Schmidt who lived in Glengarriffe, and Wolfgang Schnoder, who lived in Bantry. All three were in their late 60s.

An RNLI lifeboat went to the cruiser's rescue at about 5.45pm yesterday after smoke was spotted from the shore. The Irish coastguard helicopter, which was in the area on another rescue mission, spotted the men in the water.

The boat was on fire and sinking as the emergency services arrived.

Police in Cork and the Marine Casualty Investigation Board have begun separate investigations into the cause of what happened.

Councillor Noel Harrington said the death of the three men was a tragic end to the tourist season in Castletownbere.

"If something goes awry on land that is one thing, but when it happens at sea it is a different ball game. Luckily the helicopter was down there already because they were assisting in an emergency at Hungry Hill. It is an awful tragedy to happen on a cruiser like that," he said.

(DW/KMcA)