Perilous
Times
At least 50 dead after Russian oil rig collapses into the
sea
More than 50 people were feared dead on Sunday after a mobile
oil-drilling platform capsized and sunk during stormy weather in
the Sea of Okhotsk off Russia's east coast.
The Kolskaya mobile oil-drilling platform is pictured in the Kola
Bay near Russia's northern seaport of Murmansk last year Photo:
REUTERS
By Andrew Osborn, Moscow
4:21PM GMT 18 Dec 2011
The Telegraph UK
The Kolskaya platform was being towed by an icebreaker and a
tugboat to the island of Sakhalin at the time with 67 crew on
board when it was caught in a bad storm.
Emergency officials said the platform was pounded by waves up to
20 feet high that crashed through its portholes, sending water
flooding into the crew's dining area.
The rig quickly filled with seawater, capsized and sunk within 20
minutes with strong waves reportedly sweeping away the life rafts
before the crew could disembark. Two of the rafts were later found
empty.
The temperature of the water was apparently zero degrees Celsius
at the time with high winds making survival even harder.
A helicopter was dispatched to airlift the crew off the stricken
rig after receiving an SOS call. But by the time it got there the
rig had already sunk and the crew were in the icy water.
Emergency officials said they had plucked 14 crew members from the
freezing water and that the rescued men were in varying states of
health.
Four people were confirmed dead, they added, and a further 49 crew
members were still missing and feared dead.
An air and sea rescue operation was continuing last night despite
the fact that night had fallen and weather conditions remained
stormy.
State prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into the
tragedy to ascertain why the rig was being towed in such dangerous
weather conditions.
The rig was built in Finland in 1985 and had apparently suffered
serious technical problems before Sunday's tragedy.