At least 43 dead after Russian trawler sinks in ocean

– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community

PHUKET: At least 43 people have died and 26 are missing after a Russian trawler sank late on Wednesday in the Western Pacific Ocean near the Kamchatka Peninsula, the TASS news agency reported, citing an officer at a maritime rescue coordination center in the area.

There were 132 people on board the Dalniy Vostok freezer trawler and 63 people have been rescued from freezing waters near zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit), TASS said.

The ship was carrying 78 Russian nationals, as well as 54 foreign nationals from Myanmar, Ukraine, Lithuania and Vanuatu, the news agency said.

The trawler wrecked in the Sea of Okhotsk, 330km west of Krutogorovsky settlement in the Kamchatka region and 250km south of the city of Magadan, TASS said.

The home port of the trawler, which was owned by Magellan LLC, was Nevelsk in Russia’s Sakhalin region, TASS said.

— Phuket Gazette Editors