BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – A yacht returning from Antarctica smashed into rocks during a powerful storm, killing a Polish sporting goods executive and his brother, the Argentine navy said Thursday.
Navy Lt. Martin Ribeiro said the yacht Nashachata lost engine power in the Beagle Channel early Monday as nearly hurricane-force winds of more than 110 kph (68 mph) tore off roofs and downed trees nearby in the world's southernmost city, Ushuaia.
"The weather conditions were very bad," Ribeiro told The Associated Press. "The waves were higher than 5 meters (16 feet)."
The sailors managed to enter Sloggett Bay and drop anchor near the Argentine shore, but at some point the mast broke and their line snapped, tossing the yacht's captain Marek Radwanski and his brother Pawel to their deaths in the frigid water as the boat smashed against rocks, Ribeiro said.
The sailors' emergency distress signal was picked up by Chile's navy, which has a base in Port Williams on the southern side of the channel, and was passed to Argentina's navy, which despite the dangerous conditions sent two boats out to search for the boat in Argentine waters.
Five surviving crew members made it to shore, where they huddled overnight before the weather eased and they could be rescued Tuesday.
Pilot Roberto Valdez of the Heli-Ushuaia tourism company, which assisted in the search because the navy lacks helicopters in the region, spotted the brothers' bodies Tuesday afternoon, washed up on beaches miles (kilometers) from the wreck.
Marek Radwanski was a founder and deputy chairman for development at Intersport Polska, the Polish branch of a major international sporting goods group based in Switzerland.
The company said in a statement that the loss is very painful because he was close to his employees, and he leaves a wife and two daughters. "Despite such significant a loss, the situation at Intersport Polska SA is stable," the company said.
sumber: http://news.yahoo.com/
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