Russian drilling rig sank with 67 people on board
The owner of a Russian drilling rig which sank with 67 people on board in ice-cold seas said a raft has been seen in the water.
The Kolskaya, which was working for state-controlled gas exporter Gazprom, sank whilst in transit 200km off Russia’s Sakhalin island in the far east of the country.
The four vessels and accompanying air support sent to the rig’s aid were only able to rescue 14 people, whilst another 16 bodies were retrieved, as efforts were hindered by 20ft high waves and temperatures of -7 degrees Celsius.
Rescuers had said it would be a “miracle” if anyone was found alive in the Sea of Okhotsk, which is a vast expanse of water more than twice the size of France.
But slim hopes of finding survivors were raised when Andrei Bobrov – a spokesman for the owner of the rig – said navy aircraft had seen four orange rafts floating in the area.
“Aircraft from the Pacific fleet have found a raft. There are people on it,” he said, adding that “it is impossible to say” whether anyone was alive after more than 24 hours adrift in such extreme conditions.
The Emergencies Ministry, which usually coordinates rescue operations, declined to confirm a raft had been spotted.
A life raft floats in the sea near Russia’s island of Sakhalin
A life raft floats in the icy water, 200km off Russia’s far eastern coast
“Until all the people are found the rescue operation will not be concluded,” said Natalya Salkina, a spokeswoman for federal transport investigators in Russia’s far eastern city of Khabarovsk.
Asked how likely it was that anyone would be found alive at sea in such icy temperatures, she said: “You can always hope for a miracle.”
One of the survivors, Sergei Grauman, said on Russian state television that the platform’s portholes were smashed in a second and the crew had struggled to fix them.
“Everyone rushed to the deck,” he told the First Channel station. “It all felt like a movie.”
The seas on Russia’s far eastern coast often freeze in winter and such harsh conditions – including freezing air temperatures and biting winds – would leave any survivors badly exposed unless they could find dry cover on the choppy seas.
Russian law allows only a “minimal number of crew members” to be aboard the platform while it is being towed and bars any non-crew members or “passengers,” but reports say at least 14 of those aboard were not part of the crew.
Russian prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the incident.
Source: Sky News