VLADIVOSTOK (Sputnik) – Rescue workers have searched through an area of over 36,000 square kilometres (22,370 square miles) in the Sea of Okhotsk, looking for 13 people that remain missing after the sinking of the Dalniy Vostok fishing freezer trawler, the Russian Emergencies Ministry informs.
"On April 6, 6,800 square kilometres were searched through. Overall, over 36,000 square kilometres have been searched, including over 13,700 that were searched by sea vessels and 22,500 examined by plane," a statement released by the Far East division of the Russian Emergencies Ministry on Tuesday says.
The Dalniy Vostok trawler sank in the Sea of Okhotsk shortly before midnight on April 1. There were 132 people on board the vessel. Rescue teams have lifted a total of 119 people from the water, 56 of them had died. The fate of the remaining 13 remains unknown. It is unlikely that they have managed to survive because death is imminent for those staying in freezing waters over 15 minutes, with or without a thermal wetsuit.
Two ships carrying survivors of the accident and the bodies of the dead arrived in the port of Korsakov, a town located in Russia's Sakhalin Region, in the early hours of Tuesday. The survivors will be lodged at hotels in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
On Saturday, acting Sakhalin governor Oleg Kozhemyako said that the sinking of the Dalniy Vostok trawler was likely caused by the crew's failure to comply with safety regulations. A criminal case has been opened and an investigation into the accident is underway.
