Five Portuguese fishermen went missing early Wednesday after a boat capsized off the coast in Sintra, around 24 km Northwest of capital Lisbon.
A Portuguese navy corvette, a helicopter of the Portuguese air forces and several fishing vessels have been taking part in the search and rescue efforts for six fishermen on board the boat.
However, searches stopped on Wednesday evening and will be resume Thursday morning, President of Portugal’s Fisherman Safety Association, Jose Festas told Xinhua.
Festas said the fisherman had received on-board safety training and that there was hope that there would be more survivors, however, he said that in Portugal fishermen disappear fairly frequently.
One of the fishermen, Henry, 26, managed to swim to the shore hanging on to a float, and arrived at Mindelo, and began knocking on doors to plead for help, according to Portuguese Lusa News Agency. He was found by a night security guard.
“I never saw someone trembling so much in my life,” security guard Eduardo Gil told Lusa, who explained that the boat had turned upside down and that there were two other fishermen swimming behind him but he lost them from sight.
“He kept saying he would never return to sea …” he added.
Henry was taken to Hospital Fernando Fonseca, in Sintra, and is in a stable condition, according to local media.
He was referred to the harbor captain of Cascais on Wednesday to be heard, according to the shipping authorities.
Families of the missing have complained that there is not enough information regarding the shipwreck and have gone to the rescue regions to follow the searches.
2014 Xinhua News Agency