Soviet Ship Hits Spanish Trawler

LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA, Spain — A Soviet merchant ship rammed a Spanish trawler off the Western Sahara today, sinking the boat and killing at least three crew members, officials said.

Five crewmen from the Alcoco trawler were rescued by a second Soviet merchant ship in the area but four more were reported missing, said officials at naval headquarters in Las Palmas. The Soviet ship that hit the Alcoco about 2 a.m. in Mauritanian waters was not immediately identified, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.