4 icebound sealers safe after airlift off Fogo Island

Four sealers were airlifted Wednesday night from a vessel that got stuck in ice off Newfoundland's northeast coast. 

Major Martel Thompson of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax said the Double N was stuck in ice about 125 kilometres off Fogo Island.

Thompson said the ice and weather conditions were a challenge for the people on the boat and for the crew on the Cormorant helicopter who rescued them.

"There was a real fear that there's an imminent collision with an iceberg that was located 500 feet from this vessel and [was] closing in on them," Thompson told CBC. 

"The Cormorant crews were battling low visibility due to darkness and 110 km/h winds."  

Thompson said the helicopter crew hoisted the four sealers to safety and flew them to Gander.

The Double N was left adrift.

The seal hunt opened earlier this week.