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Death toll in Russian trawler wreck off Kamchatka reaches 54

There were 130 people on board the Russian freezer trawler

MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. The death toll in the wreck of a Russian freezer trawler off the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia’s Far East has reached 54, region’s emergency services say.

"According to updated reports, 54 bodies have been recovered, and 63 crewmembers have been rescued," a source said.

Fifteen more people, who are still missing, are believed to have been in ship holds as the trawler sank.

TASS reported earlier that there were 78 Russian nationals on board the Dalniy Vostok trawler, 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.

Drifting ice tearing a hole in the freezer trawler is a likely reason behind its sinking, a source from the regional emergencies ministry told TASS earlier.