A Portuguese flag flies at Formosa beach, in the municipality of Torres Vedras during the Ciaran storm on November 3, 2023. (Photo by Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP)
Lisbon: The body of a fourth person has been found after a sailing boat capsized and ran aground on a beach in central Portugal, the navy said Saturday.
The Danish-flagged pleasure boat capsized on Friday around a kilometre off one of the beaches at Santa Cruz, around 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Lisbon.
The boat was hit by the strong swells caused by Storm Ciaran, which killed more than a dozen other people across Europe.
The first three victims were found dead on the shore and were not wearing life jackets.
The body of a second woman was found inside the wrecked boat, Portuguese Navy spokesman Jose Sousa Luis told AFP on Saturday.
Three of the victims, a 56-year-old man and the two women aged 46 and 61, were Danish nationals, said the navy spokesman, adding that the nationality of the fourth victim, a 57-year-old man, was not yet known.
Although Portugal was not directly affected by the storm, the central and northern coastal regions had been put on a red alert due to the rough seas, with waves exceeding seven metres (23 feet) in height.
A new storm, named Domingos by the Spanish meteorological agency, was due to pass off Portugal on Saturday and Sunday, with waves that could reach up to nine metres high, according to the IPMA.
