Death toll feared to mount as severe storms batter Europe
Pastor Dale Morgan
Death toll feared to mount as severe storms batter Europe*
LONDON, Jan 12 (AFP) Jan 12, 2007
Storms which have already killed at least two people caused new chaos in
Britain and other parts of Europe Friday, as hopes faded for seven
missing Irish fishermen and others caught up in atrocious conditions.
British coastguards scrambled in the North Sea after a ship carrying 94
passengers lost power in a stretch of water where another vessel
narrowly missed slamming into a gas rig on Thursday.
"We are very pleased that the vessel is now safely under tow -- the
weather on scene is still poor but I can report that all 94 people on
board are safe and well," said David Robertson, coastguard manager at
Aberdeen, northern Scotland.
The incident came a day after a 4,500-tonne cargo ship ran adrift
further south in the North Sea, only narrowly averting a collision with
a ConocoPhillips gas platform.
In southwest England, a search off the coast of Cornwall for a woman
reported to have fallen from a Russian cargo vessel has been called off.
On land, a man was killed in a village in Somerset, in the same region,
when a tree fell on the car he was travelling in, while about 80,000
homes were left without power in Wales after falling trees brought down
power cables.
But the biggest focus of concern was in Ireland, where a major search
for seven missing fishermen resumed off the the Irish coast after a
double tragedy when two trawlers sank within hours of each other.
The search was later scaled down amid dreadful weather conditions and
the prospects of finding any survivors appeared increasingly bleak.
"Conditions are very difficult with gale force winds. The seas are very
rough and it is very windy," coastguard spokeswoman Veronica Scanlan
told AFP.
Navy and police divers are on standby to try to locate the wreck of the
French-built trawler Pere Charles which sank off Hook Head in County
Wexford while fishing for herring on Wednesday evening.
In a separate incident, two fishermen, the Irish skipper and a Polish
crewman, are missing from the trawler Honeydew II which sank about 20
miles (30 kilometres) further west off Mine Head in County Waterford.
At first light Friday the search operations resumed, with helicopters, a
naval vessel, lifeboats, fishing trawlers and coastguard shore crews
along the coast of counties Wexford and Waterford.
Ireland's Marine Casualty Investigation Board had begun inquiries into
both tragedies.
But said Scanlon: "As time goes on hopes are fading of actually rescuing
any of the missing men. It is becoming more likely that it will be
bodies that will be recovered."
The stormy weather was not limited to Britain.
In Belgium a man was killed after losing control of his car in strong
winds, which were reported to be reaching 100 kilometers per hour in
some parts of the country, police said.
In the Netherlands experts put the cost of damage caused by the weather
over the last day or two at 15 million euros.
Further east, winds, sometimes up to hurricane force, swept through the
Czech Republic, uprooting trees, damaging roofs and electricity pylons.
Winds reached up to 150 kilometers per hour at the highest point in the
country near the Polish border, while the town of Cesky Tesin was
without power for part of the night.
In Austria some 1,200 homes were left without power overnight in the
north of the country, while the main motorway linking Vienna with
Salzburg was closed for a time due to winds of up to 160 kilometres an
hour.