A Kerry fisherman died in an accident off the Clare coast yesterday, when he fell overboard the fishing vessel he was working on.
The 65- year-old man, whose name was not being released last night until relatives were informed, was working with gillnets on the 42-foot vessel, John Michael. It is understood that the man's foot may have caught in a rope and he fell overboard. The gillnetter was about 20 miles south-west of Loop Head at the time of the incident, and weather conditions were relatively good.
The man was recovered from the water by the vessel's crew, and an emergency call was put through which was picked up by Valentia Coast Radio Station at 1 p.m.
The Irish Coast Guard's Sikorsky helicopter was tasked and arrived on the scene about 40 minutes later. The man was winched on board the helicopter and taken immediately to University College Hospital, Galway. However, he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The man, married with family, was from the Fenit area, and the local community was in shock last night at the circumstances surrounding the accident.