Russian fishing vessel sinks in Barents Sea during storm, 17 killed

The Onega fishing vessel sank in the Barents Sea off Novaya Zemlya, the press service of the Russian EMERCOM said on Monday, December 28. There were 19 fishermen on board the sunken vessel. Five rescue ships were sent to search for the fishermen. It is impossible to use aviation in the area of the tragedy due to bad weather conditions. The rescued sailors saw the death of at least one of the crew members. The tragedy occurred in a heavy storm when the crew was lifting the net with the catch. All were wearing wetsuits, but no one had time to use the rescue equipment. The men were literally washed off the deck into the sea.Seventeen people were killed. A criminal case has been initiated under Part 3 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code ("Violation of traffic safety rules and the operation of railway, air, sea and inland water transport and metro"), the press service of the Arkhangelsk Investigation Department on Transport of the North-West Investigative Department committee of Russia said. There is no captain among the rescued sailors. Only two men have been saved - a sailor and a mate. "There is no connection with the others," a source at the EMERCOM told TASS.