NOVO-OGARYOVO, April 3. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his representative in the Far East, Yury Trutnev, to take control of providing assistance to survivors and family members of those who died after a Russian trawler sank off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka peninsula on Thursday.
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told journalists after a meeting dedicated to the development of the Far East, chaired by the president: "At the meeting, the president raised the issue of the Dalny Vostok trawler. He also assigned Trutnev together with heads of relevant regions to control the course of treatment of injured people and to provide financial assistance to bereaved family members."
The Dalny Vostok freezer trawler with 132 people on board went down about 330 kilometers west of Krutogorovsky settlement in the Kamchatka region and 250 kilometers south of the city of Magadan.
The ship was carrying 78 Russian nationals, as well as 54 crew members from other countries including Myanmar, Ukraine, Latvia and Vanuatu.
Sixty-three people have been rescued so far. At least 56 sailors have died and 13 are still missing.
The vessel was operated by Magellan, a company based in Nevelsk in Russia's Sakhalin region.