# Man drowns, nine rescued off Cork coast



## Guest (Dec 5, 2008)

Source RTE

Man drowns, nine rescued off Cork coast
Friday, 5 December 2008 14:37 
One man has died and nine others have been rescued after their boat capsized off the coast of west Cork.

The ten, who are believed to be Swiss, were travelling from Schull to Coney Island when their boat got into difficulty after developing engine trouble in the early hours of this morning.

The boat drifted and then capsized at 1.45am less than a mile from the Cork coast, throwing all ten men into the water.
One man managed to swim to Long Island and alerted one of the only two people living on the island. He then called the coast guard from the islander's house.
The coast guard received the call at 2am and alerted all units, including the coast guard helicopter based at Shannon, and lifeboats from Baltimore and Castletownbere. All volunteer coast guard units were also contacted.
By the time the lifeboats arrived at Long Island, all nine men had been washed ashore.
They had been clinging onto the capsized boat. The tide and gale force winds had pushed them towards the island.
One man was found dead on the beach.
The other nine men took shelter in a house where the coast guard provided them with emergency warm clothing.

The Baltimore life boat then brought them back to the mainland where they were taken to Bantry General Hospital. They have since been discharged.

The men involved are all in their 50s and 60s and were believed to be travelling to Coney Island for a holiday.

The weather conditions last night have been described as atrocious, with gales of force 8 or 9 and high swells.


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## Derek Roger (Feb 19, 2005)

My condolences to the family of the drowned man .
Derek


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## Guest (Dec 5, 2008)

Source Breakingnews.ie

Marine investigators to probe fatal capsize
05/12/2008 - 16:36:25
The drowning of a Swiss tourist when a boat capsized carrying 10 men was at the centre of a probe by marine accident investigators tonight.

The small 15ft motorboat with nine Swiss and one Irish aboard overturned about half a mile off Ireland’s south-west coast in the early hours, sparking a massive rescue operation.

The alarm was raised when one of the men swam ashore in rough seas to get help.

It is understood the others clung to the overturned boat which was swept to a nearby island by the wind. The dead man’s body was later found on the shoreline.

Danny Lynch, Valencia Island Coast Guard station officer, said they were lucky so many made it out alive.

“When you had nine people in the water in those sort of weather conditions and the boat turned upside down we were pretty sure we were looking for nine bodies,” he said.

The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) confirmed a probe has been launched into the tragedy.

The Swiss nationals, aged between their mid 50s and mid 60s, flew into Cork airport last night.

It is understood the party was travelling to an uninhabited island where the Irish man, who lives in Switzerland, owns the only holiday home.

They left on the motorboat from a pier close to the fishing village of Schull, about 70 miles south-west of Cork city for the short journey to Coney Island.

But when their motor failed the boat began drifting and took in water, before a massive wave flipped them into the sea.

While one swam to nearby Long Island for help, the rest of the group clung to the overturned boat.

Baltimore lifeboat coxswain Kieran Cotter said conditions were atrocious.

“This was a terrible night to be out,” he said.

“Conditions were very bad and the strong winds combined with the heavy showers and spray meant that the small punt (boat) filled quickly with water and overturned.”

“One of our lifeboat crew is fluent in French and thankfully was able to communicate with the survivor who swam to shore and get quickly apprised of the situation”.

Coastguard units from throughout the area, the Shannon-based rescue helicopter and lifeboats from Baltimore and Castletownbere were all involved in the massive search operation.

“Some of them were in a terrible state of shock,” Mr Cotter added.

“They were very cold, the really didn’t know what hit them.”

The nine survivors were all brought to hospital, but were later discharged.

The Swiss embassy in Dublin said they had been informed about the matter and were providing consular assistance.


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## Guest (Dec 6, 2008)

Source Examiner.ie

*Investigations are under way into claims the Swiss tourists, all men in their 50s and 60s, were not wearing life jackets when their 17ft punt went down in rough seas off Coney Island, near Schull, during the early hours of yesterday morning.
*
Baltimore lifeboat cox Ciarán Cotter said the tourists were making the 800-yard boat trip Coney Island when the outboard engine cut out and the boat started drifting. They managed to get the auxiliary motor going but the boat was swamped by water and capsized.


One of the men managed to swim to nearby Long Island and raised the alarm.

The emergency services were scrambled at 2.06am. Two lifeboats from Baltimore, rescue units from Schull and Goleen, the Castletownbere lifeboat and the Shannon-based coastguard helicopter were tasked to the scene.

Mr Cotter said the men clung onto the upturned boat and, fortunately, the wind assisted them ashore on Long Island.

“The water temperature was low. They were extremely lucky,” said Mr Cotter.

When his crew arrived, the survivors had made it to a house and were trying to warm themselves. Several of them were suffering from hypothermia, and were taken to Bantry General Hospital.

The dead man’s body was found on the beach at Long Island a short time later.

Michael O’Regan, of the Goleen coastguard unit, said it was a miracle that all the tourists weren’t drowned.

*“The conditions were very bad at the time. It was a major error of judgment to go out,” *said Mr O’Regan.

Coney Island is owned by Michael McGill, who has lived in Switzerland, where he practices as a dentist. He had invited nine of his friends to take a pre-Christmas holiday on the island. They had arrived in Cork airport just a few hours before the tragedy struck.


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