Ships and helicopters mounted a search for five fishermen on Thursday after their trawler capsized in rough seas off Ireland's windswept southeast coast, the Irish Coast Guard said, according to Reuters. The 20-metre Pere Charles sent a distress signal just after 6 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Wednesday before sinking quickly in heavy seas, about 2.5 miles off the Irish port of Rosslare. "Teams from the coast guard, gardai (police), and the public are doing shoreline searches," Irish Coast Guard spokeswoman Veronica Scanlan said, adding that two helicopters and four coast guard lifeboats were also at the scene. Four of the crew were Irish citizens while the fifth was believed to be from Lithuania, she said. Ireland's defence forces said a team of nine divers had joined the hunt while a naval vessel was waiting for the weather to improve before heading to the area. The search was called off for the night at just after 5 p.m. (1700 GMT) and was due to resume at first light. Both the British and Irish weather centres issued gale warnings for all coastal regions on Thursday as winds gusted at up to 80 miles per hour. In Ireland, the severe weather led to flight cancellations, kept ferries in harbour and disrupted electricity supplies. A gale warning is in effect until Friday. An empty life raft from the Pere Charles washed up on shore on Thursday, but a second life raft found later proved to be from another ship, Scanlan said.
