Three people have died and one has been injured, following a fire on board a motor cruiser off west Cork earlier this evening.
The alarm was raised shortly after 5.30pm this evening when the fire was reported on board the 25-foot vessel south of Roancarrig lighthouse off Castletownbere, Co Cork.
The RNLI Castletownbere lifeboat and the Irish Coast Guard Waterford-based helicopter were tasked, and the helicopter took four people from the water.
Three of the four were declared dead, and one survivor was taken to hospital in Cork.
It is believed that one of the three who died was Irish, and two were European. Their names will not be released until relatives have been informed.
The RNLI Castletownbere lifeboat remained on scene with the vessel, but it subsequently sank.
