Shipwreck off Canadian coast sparks frantic search - 21 out of 24 crew members missing

Twenty-one members out of a twenty-four-man crew are missing, after their Galician vessel was shipwrecked off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

The Villa de Pitanxo sent out a distress call at 4:30am GMT and then the radio beacon at 5am.

Out of the four life rafts on the vessel, only three could be found by authorities - two of which were empty.

Only three crew members were found on the only life raft with any occupants.

The three known survivors found thus far have been rushed by helicopter to hospital.

Eighteen of the twenty-four-man crew on the Villa de Pitanxo were Spanish, with the remaining members either Peruvian or Ghanaian.

The vessel was based in the port of Marín in north-west Spain, and belongs to the Galician shipowner Manuel Nores.