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The bodies of two French fishermen who vanished after their boat sank in the English Channel have been recovered.

A distress call was made from the vessel – which French authorities confirmed was called The Maranello – off the coast of Plymouth on Saturday, August 29.

The boat, carrying five crew members, had contacted another trawler – The Stradale – to say it had encountered a problem with its fishing gear.

An ‘intensive search’ was subsequently carried out just off the Plymouth coast and south-west of Eddystone Lighthouse, with 15 vessels involved in the search operation working alongside aircraft.

A coastguard rescue helicopter, a fixed-wing aircraft plus RNLI lifeboats from Falmouth and Plymouth were among the vessels scrambled to the scene.

Other small boats nearby, primarily French fishing vessels, were also captured on maritime tracking apps heading to the site to help.

The Stradale was able to rescue three of the five crew members before The Maranello ultimately sank, according to authorities.

One of the rescued sailors was evacuated by helicopter and was treated at Truro Hospital, while the others were taken to Plymouth for medical attention. They have all since returned to France.

The wreck of The Maranello was found days later, but the two other fishermen remained missing.

Now, a French prosecutor’s office has confirmed the two bodies were found on Saturday off the coast of England, near Plymouth.

In a statement, Alex Dehays, deputy public prosecutor in Saint-Brieuc, said: ‘After an initial dive this morning, which allowed us to locate the site and assess the feasibility of the operation, divers were able to recover the bodies of the two sailors this evening.

‘The investigation, still entrusted to the research section of the maritime gendarmerie in Brest, is therefore switching this evening to an investigation into the causes of death.’

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) was alerted by a report about the vessel just after 6pm on Saturday, August 29.

French patrol vessel FS Flamant was deployed from HMNB Devonport, according to local news reports, while a further aircraft was deployed from Humberside Airport to assist search and rescue operations.

Just after 9pm, the Newquay-based R924 Coastguard helicopter was reported to have returned to Newquay Airport to refuel.

It then rejoined the search, before stopping to return to Newquay to refuel at around 11.45pm.

A third RNLI all-weather lifeboat from Salcombe also joined the emergency response team in the early hours of Sunday, August 30, just before 2am.

A spokesperson for the MCA previously said: ‘HM Coastguard maintained the intensive search during the night and it is continuing today with multiple assets sent to help with the search.

‘Three people were rescued last evening from the French-registered fishing vessel which had made the call for help.

‘They were taken to hospital for further care.’

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