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Russian trawler could have been holed by drifting ice - emergencies ministry

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, April 2. /TASS/. Drifting ice tearing a hole in a Russian freezer trawler is a likely reason behind its sinking off the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia’s Far East, a source from the regional emergencies ministry has told TASS.

"The ship did not send a distress signal," the source said, adding that presumably the Dalniy Vostik freezer trawler had hit drifting ice.

He said those gravely injured in the shipwreck would be helicoptered to clinics of Magadan, which is situated closer to the wreck area than the regional center of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Sixty-three survivors and 43 dead bodies have been recovered from the sea as of yet. Twenty-six people are still unaccounted for, and 26 fishing vessels continue a search operation.

TASS reported earlier that there were 78 Russian nationals on board, as well as 54 foreign nationals from Myanmar, Ukraine, Lithuania and Vanuatu.

The trawler wrecked in the Sea of Okhotsk 330 kilometers west of Krutogorovsky settlement (Kamchatka region) and 250 kilometers south of the city of Magadan. The home port of the trawler owned by Magellan LLC was Nevelsk (Sakhalin region).