Grief grips small Newfoundland town after boat sinking leaves two dead, one missing

People in a small Newfoundland town are grieving the deaths of two men while waiting anxiously for news about a missing third after a fishing boat sank off the community's coast Tuesday evening.

People in a small Newfoundland town are grieving the deaths of two men while waiting anxiously for news about a missing third after a fishing boat sank off the community's coast Tuesday evening.

Bob Traverse, mayor of Fleur de Lys, N.L., said Wednesday he had instructed the town clerk to open the town hall so that residents could gather there and support each other. Some people had already arrived at the local church earlier in the morning to embrace one another and wait for news, he said.

"Search and rescue and the helicopters are still out there," Traverse said. "It's pretty sad here. We've already had three deaths here this week from natural causes, and that's pretty devastating in a small town."

"We'll help each other out to get through it," he added.

RCMP confirmed Wednesday morning that a fishing vessel sank off the coast of Fleur de Lys on Tuesday evening. There were four people on board when it went down, Cpl. Jolene Garland said in an email. Two were found dead, one was rescued and one was still missing.

Garland did not have information about the identities of the people on board, but Traverse said they were all men out fishing cod.