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| The Kolskaya was built in 1985 |
At least
four people have died and about 50 are missing after an oil drilling rig sank
in freezing seas in the Russian far east.
The
Kolskaya rig was being towed some 200km (125 miles) off Sakhalin island when it
capsized in a fierce storm.
Fourteen
people have been rescued alive but it is feared the rig overturned before the
rest of the 67 people on board could escape on to life rafts.
Rescue
efforts have been hampered by poor weather conditions.
Helicopters
and a plane helped scour the area amid high winds and waves of up to 12ft (4m)
but the search was halted as night fell.
Empty life
rafts
"According
to reports from the scene of the rescue operation, the Kolskaya platform has
sunk completely," the regional head of the emergencies ministry, Taimuraz
Kasayev, told a news briefing.
The
accident in temperatures of -17C at around 14:00 local time (0200 GMT) in the
Sea of Okhotsk happened as the rig was being towed from the eastern peninsula
of Kamchatka to Sakhalin by an icebreaker and a tug.
An unnamed
regional emergencies ministry spokesman told the AFP news agency that the rig's
portholes had been "damaged by ice and waves, and water began going into
the vessel".
The crew
had been waiting to be evacuated by helicopter but the platform capsized and
sank before they could get to their rescue rafts, he said.
Two out of
the four life rafts were reportedly found with nobody on board.
An
investigation has been launched to decide whether any safety regulations were
violated transporting the Kolskaya in bad weather.
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