The maritime authority reported that three people were killed and three others missing after a 17-member crew fishing boat capsized on Wednesday off the central coast of Portugal.

In a press release, the maritime authority stated that "11 people have so far been rescued and found alive while three others have been found dead." Search operations are under way for the three people who have gone missing.

Port captain Pedro Cervaens Costa informed reporters that the majority of crew members are Portuguese. Two Indonesians were rescued alive.

Emergency services were dispatched at 4:30 am local time to deal with the incident.

Aurelio Fereira, the mayor of Marinha Grande in central Portugal, told reporters that the missing fishermen were about two kilometers from the coast. Divers would be sent to the area to search for them.

Portugal's president Marcelo Rebelo De Sousa expressed his sadness at the events and said that "the deaths of these brave men were a tragedy for everyone". (Reporting and editing by Alex Richardson, Peter Graff and Patricia Vicente Rua)