The sole survivor of a fire on a cruiser that claimed the lives of three men off the Cork coast has been discharged from hospital.
Ed Dzito (46), who is originally from Connecticut but has been living in Glengarriff for some years, was released from Bantry General Hospital this morning.
Mr Dzito was sea angling with three other men on board the 25ft Castaway pleasure boat which caught fire shortly after 5pm yesterday off Castletownbere, Co Cork.
The three deceased were named locally as Richard Harman from Glengarriff, and Germans Mike Schmidt who lived in Glengarriff, and Wolfgang Schnoder, who lived in Bantry. All three were in their late 60s.
It is understood the fire broke out in the console area behind the steering wheel but it was unclear what caused the fire.
The Coast Guard has no record of a mayday alert being picked up, but smoke was sighted from shore.
Inspectors from the Marine Casualty Investigation Board will begin their inquiries into the cause of the fire which forced the four men to abandon ship.
Gardaí under Supt John Quilter of Bantry Garda station are also set to carry out an investigation with a view to preparing a file on the tragedy for the Coroner’s Court.
RNLI Castletownbere volunteer and spokesman Paul Stevens said the lifeboat crew, under coxswain Michael Martin Sullivan, remained at the scene with the vessel. However, the stricken cruiser sank within about 40 minutes of the rescue.
Weather conditions were said to be good, but foggy. The Coast Guard’s Waterford-based helicopter was on the scene within minutes of being alerted as it had been called out earlier to search for two people missing on Hungry Hill, and was on a local helipad waiting for the fog to clear.
The missing father and son were later escorted safely off the hill, the Coast Guard said.