Two fishermen killed, four missing

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The bodies of two crewmen have been found and four more remain missing after a French fishing vessel went down in bad weather in the English Channel, a spokeswoman for a nearby Royal Navy air base said Monday.

The boat sank in bad weather overnight Sunday 13 miles north of the town of Brest on the French coast, said Emma Relton, a spokeswoman for the Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose on the southwest coast of England.

Relton said one of the seven crew members had been found alive during the joint French and British rescue operation, which is being coordinated by the French authorities.

She said two Royal Navy helicopters had been scrambled to the scene to join French rescuers in the search for the four remaining crewmen from the vessel, Le Petit Jolie.

Spokesman Fred Caygill said the British Coastguard received a call early this morning from its French counterpart for assistance in the search.

"We received a call at around 7 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET) from the French Coastguard requesting a navy helicopter be scrambled to the scene. That was done immediately," Caygill said. E-mail to a friend

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