Choppers save hundreds of anglers adrift on ice floe
Published 09 March, 2008, 15:22
Hundreds of fishermen have been rescued after being stranded on a drifting ice floe in Russia's Far East. The Russian Emergencies Ministry says a successful rescue operation has been carried out and all 755 anglers who'd run into trouble on the Sea of Okhotsk have now been brought to safety.
The ice floe broke away early on Sunday and drifted some two kilometres off the west coast of Sakhalin island.
Once the alarm was raised, the anglers were taken ashore by helicopters and speedboats.
No injuries have been reported.
It's thought that over the past few days the anglers had ignored several warnings that the ice could break away from shore.
The Emergencies Ministry says Sunday's rescue was the largest of its kind in Russia.
In February last year 442 fishermen were saved in a similar incident.
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