Search ends for 12 missing from Spanish trawler that sank off Canada

The search for survivors from a Spanish fishing trawler that sank off Canada’s eastern coast on Monday has ended, rescuers say. Three members of the crew were rescued but nine are confirmed dead and 12 are still missing. The crew included 16 Spaniards, five Peruvians and three Ghanaians. The trawler, based in Spain’s north-west region of Galicia, sank off Newfoundland, in Spain’s worst fishing tragedy for almost 40 years. It is as yet unclear what caused it to sink. “The active search for the missing crew has been ended. The case is now turned over to law enforcement as a missing persons at sea case,” Brian Owens of Canada’s Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre told the BBC. In Madrid, parliament observed a minute of silence.The Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Luis Planas, said it was the biggest tragedy in the fishing industry since Islamar III, a sardine boat, sank off the Canary Islands in 1984, claiming 26 lives. (BBC)…[+]