An investigation is expected to be initiated into the deaths of two men in a sea-angling accident off the north-west Donegal coast yesterday, write Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent, and George Jackson in Derry.
The men had left in a 10-foot boat from Ards Pier, south-west of Downings, yesterday during reasonable weather conditions with a 10-knot wind. Both men were wearing lifejackets when their bodies were recovered.
However, the Irish Coast Guard said that the sea was quite choppy, with strong currents running in the area.
Both men were from Derry. They were named last night as Mr John January (44), a member of the Blue Watch at the Northern Ireland Fire Service's Crescent Link station in the Waterside area of Derry, and his father-in-law, Mr Thomas Boyd (65), a retired lecturer from Seymour Gardens, also Waterside.
Mr January, who has one son, had recently remarried and was a temporary staff officer at the station, having worked there for almost 20 years. The alert was raised shortly after 2 p.m. yesterday when a jetskier spotted a body floating on the water at Tra Mor near Downings in Sheephaven Bay and informed a local fishing vessel, the Ross Gill.
The vessel sent a radio message to Malin Coast Guard, which immediately tasked the Mulroy Coast Guard unit and the Air Corps Sikorsky helicopter based at Sligo.
The jetskier brought the first body ashore at about 2.15 p.m. The second body was spotted by the helicopter and coast guard at 2.30 p.m., and was recovered from the water.
The Air Corps also located the upturned boat close to the scene.
It is believed that the men may have survived for a time in the water, given that both had lifejackets, but may have been unable to raise the alarm when their vessel capsized.
Both men were pronounced dead at the scene by a local doctor and their bodies were removed to Letterkenny General Hospital.
Lough Swilly offshore lifeboat and the Air Corps helicopter continued to search the area for a time pending confirmation of the number of people on the boat.
During the search, the Air Corps was diverted to Horn Head where a man who had been sea-angling from shore was caught by the tide.
He called the emergency services on his mobile phone, and was rescued within 15 minutes, according to Malin Coast Guard.