Four dead and 15 missing as Spanish trawler sinks off Canada

At least four people have died and 15 are missing after a Spanish fishing boat sank off Canada’s east coast.

Three crew members have been rescued, and efforts to find survivors are continuing.

The crew included Spanish, Peruvian and Ghanaian nationals, according to Spanish media reports.

The vessel, which was based in the port of Marin in the Spanish region of Galicia, sank in waters off Canada’s Newfoundland.

Two distress alerts were received from the Villa de Pitanxo vessel more than 450km (279 miles) from land, according to Spanish sea search and rescue agency Salvamento Marítimo.

“We have been informed that… bodies have been found,” Maica Larriba, a central government representative in Pontevedra, Galicia, told Spanish public radio.

The three survivors were found in a lifeboat suffering from hypothermia, she added. Two other empty lifeboats were found and rescuers were looking for a fourth.

“The temperature of the water at the moment is horrible, it is very low,” Ms Larriba said.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was following the rescue operation “with concern”.