Legion of Honor: 3 "Heroes" Deceased in an Attempted Rescue by a Trawler

The three rescuers who died Friday after their boat capsized off Les Sables-d'Olonne (Vendée) in western France while they were trying to rescue a struggling trawler will be decorated as posthumous, announced the palace of the Elysee.

"Emmanuel Macron has appointed the three volunteer members of the National Society for Sea Rescue (SNSM) at the Legion of Honor Award," said the French presidency in a statement.

Four other occupants of the lifeboat who capsized in bad weather were injured.

"This tragedy recalls the risks taken, the commitment made by the 8,000 rescuers at sea in our country," the statement said.

"Late in the morning, a SNSM boat capsized 800 meters from the coast around Les Sables d'Olonne with seven people on board," the local prosecutor's office said in a statement.

& # 39; Tragic deaths & # 39;
Three of them died and four others managed to swim to the shore, the statement added.

"These tragic deaths have caused deep emotions in the rescue services at sea," said Xavier de la Gorce, head of the SNSM.

The team of the National Society of Sea Rescue (SNSM) had tried to help a fishing boat struggling in the giant swell caused by the storm Miguel, which was blowing up to 120 km / h.

The maritime authorities stated that the crew was using one of the "all weather" vessels of the SNSM, specifically designed to be unsinkable and automatically recover in the event of capsizing.

Photos taken before the accident show waves crashing on the front of the small boat as it was heading outward.

After capsizing, he found himself upside down on the rocky coast.

The captain of the fishing boat has also disappeared, and officials said that he probably also had crew members on board.

"Until now, we have not found the fishing boat yet.We found fragments of the boat and an empty lifeboat," AFP told AFP. regional maritime.

He said the rough seas were level five out of nine on the Douglas scale, indicating waves up to four meters (13 feet) high.

Voluntary organization
Yannick Moreau, the mayor of Les Sables d'Olonne, said it was "incomprehensible that a boat came out a day like today."

SNSM receives funding from the state but is a non-profit organization led by approximately 8,000 volunteers.

"The SNSM boat at Les Sables is a crew of professionals, sailors who know the ocean, know the conditions," said Moreau, adding that his city was "in shock".

The storm Miguel brought the French weather service to alert large areas of the Atlantic coast in case of strong winds and heavy rains.