Brave battle to save fellow fisherman

Wednesday 30th March 2011, 2:58PM BST.

The French fisherman who died, Philippe Lesaulnier

A FRENCH trawlerman has told how he battled to save a fellow fisherman found unconscious in the sea minutes after the Condor Vitesse ploughed into his boat on Monday morning.

Pascal Thevenin and his crew pulled father-of-four Philippe Lesaulnier onto their vessel after joining a desperate 30-minute search and rescue operation.

But despite battling for minutes to save him, the 42-year-old was pronounced dead just a short time later.

THE French prosecutor leading the investigation into the fatal Condor Ferries crash arrived in Jersey yesterday as the inquiry into the tragedy formally began.

• See Wednesday’s JEP for the full reports

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