Sailor survives for 16 hours in capsized boat off Spain

Rescuers located vessel as sun set but rough seas meant they had to wait until morning to help free man

A 62-year-old Frenchman survived for 16 hours in an air bubble inside his capsized sailing boat in the Atlantic Ocean before being rescued by Spanish coastguard divers in what they described as an operation verging on the impossible".

The 12-metre (40ft) Jeanne Solo Sailor sent out a distress signal at 8.23pm on Monday 14 miles from the Sisargas Islands off Spain's north-western Galicia region, the coastguard said. Tracking data shows it had set sail from the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, on Sunday morning.