At least 56 killed as Russian trawler sinks in icy waters

MOSCOW: A Russian fishing trawler sank in the icy waters off Russia’s Far East coast on Thursday, killing at least 56 of the 132 people on board, rescue workers and investigators said. At least 13 others were missing.

Despite the speed at which the Dalny Vostok ship went down, 63 people were rescued, picked up by nearby fishing boats. Rescued crew members reported that the ship was unstable because of empty fuel tanks and a lack of ballast, and tipped over when a fishing net weighing 80 tonnes was pulled in, said Oleg Kozhemyako, acting governor of the nearby Sakhalin region.

Kozhemyako’s comments on Russian television came after the federal investigative committee said it was considering all possible causes for the sinking, but it was likely that the trawler hit “an object” floating in the sea, perhaps drifting ice.

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