LAST UPDATE | 1 Oct 2018

THE THREE MEN who were recovered from a sunken vessel in Co Kerry yesterday have been named locally.

Post-mortems were due to be carried out on Jurijs Burcves, Valerijs Klimentengvs and Anatolijs Teivens today.

Investigations are continuing into what caused the incident.

The men are believed to be Latvian nationals but were living in Co Kerry. One man was aged in his 50s while the other two men were in their 30s, gardaí said.

A Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed that a member of the public raised the alarm after seeing a man’s body in the water close to Coonanna in south Kerry at about 6.20pm yesterday.

Coast Guard volunteers and emergency services attended the scene and a further two bodies were discovered under the boat. The three men were the only people aboard the vessel.

The bodies were removed from the scene by the Rescue 115 helicopter and taken to University Hospital Kerry where post-mortem examinations took place.

Gerard O’Flynn, Operations Manager at the Irish Coast Guard, told Morning Ireland that local volunteers, the Valentia lifeboat, the Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter and gardaí all attended the scene.

By 7pm, the two other bodies had been recovered.

‘Very tragic’ 

O’Flynn said the men were Eastern European but living in Co Kerry. He said it’s unclear what lead to the “very tragic situation”.

“The area we’re talking about is on the southern coast of Dingle Bay and it was exposed to what you might describe as a fresh north/northwesterly wind. It has been recorded as about force three/force four, 12-15 knots of wind … conditions would be moderate to fresh,” O’Flynn said.

He added that the boat is still afloat and said local volunteers and authorities would work together to recover it today.

O’Flynn said gardaí are liaising with the men’s families, noting: “We do extend our full sympathy to their families.”

Gardaí and the Marine Casualty Investigation Board are investigating what happened.

With reporting from Sean Murray