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Subscribe to RSSUpdated at 5:05 a.m. ET: Four workers were killed and 49 missing after an oil drilling platform capsized Sunday in the Sea of Okhotsk off Russia's east coast.
The Emergencies Ministry said in a statement Sunday that there were 67 people aboard the platform as it was being towed about 120 miles off the coast of Sakhalin Island in stormy conditions. It said 14 people had been rescued.
"According to reports from the scene of the rescue operation, the Kolskaya platform has sunk completely," Reuters quoted the local head of the Emergencies Ministry, Taimuraz Kasayev, as saying.
A spokeswoman for the Emergency Ministry in the Far East, told The Associated Press that the rescue team had found four lifeless bodies in the water. They had not yet been retrieved.
The search operation was being hampered by a fierce storm in the area. The Transportation Ministry said the platform started sinking after a strong wave broke some of its equipment and portholes in the crew's dining room.
Updated at 1 a.m. ET: At least two people were killed and another 14 were rescued after a drilling rig with 67 people aboard overturned and sank Sunday in the Sea of Okhotsk in the Russian Far East, news agency Ria Novosti reported, citing a local emergency service.
"As of 4 p.m. local time, 14 people were lifted from the rig; their condition is satisfactory. Also the bodies of two people without any signs of life were found. They will be lifted aboard the Magadan ice breaker," Taimuraz Kasayev, a spokesman for the regional emergencies service, said, according to Ria Novosti.
A distress signal was sent while the platform was being towed by an icebreaker through high seas and strong winds afer finishing its drill mission, Russia Today news channel said.
The platform was about 125 miles off Sakhalin Island.
All workers at the rig have warm swimming suits and life vests, the rescue service told Russia Today. There were also four inflatable rafts on the facility.
The Kolskoe rig was built in 1985, Russia Today said. At 230 feet by 262 feet, it is one of the largest oil rigs in Russia. It was due to set sail for drilling off the Vietnamese coast at the end of its current mission, Russia Today said.
The rig was operated by Russian exploration company Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka, Reuters reported.
The accident poses no environmental risks, Ria Novosti reported.
"Fuel stocks at the Kolskoe drilling rig are minimal and are stored in hermetically sealed tanks, and there is no danger of a fuel spill," Taimuraz Kasayev, a spokesman for the regional emergencies service, told the agency.
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The Associated Press, Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.
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Sorry to hear. Hope there are some survivors.
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From the article it sounds like 14 out of the 67 aboard have already been rescued and are safe and sound. With four known dead, that leaves another 49 people yet to be accounted for. The article says that all of the rig workers have survival suits available (they refer to them as warm swimming suits). Hopefully they were all able to get into them and clear of the rig before it sank. It can be hard to spot people floating in the water in rough seas, even when they are wearing the bright orange survival suits. The suits will stave off hypothermia for a while so hopefully they will locate the people and get them out of the water before they get too cold and their bodies shut down. I would hate to think that the remaining 51 people all went down with the rig. I lost a friend when a drill rig went down in the North Sea back in the early 80s so it really hits home when something like this happens. Unfortunately, many of the areas where deep water oil drilling rigs operate are subject to some pretty nasty weather. It is a tribute to the safety of these rigs that there have not been more incidents like this. I hope that the the remaining 49 missing people are found alive, although realistically as more time passes the chance that of all of them will be found alive goes down rather quickly due to the conditions.
I am a surviving daughter of Thomas Donlon who lost his life when the Ocean Ranger capsized and sank off the coast of St. Johns , Newfoundland on February 15th 1982. Unfortunately, my father was never recovered along with 61 other men. My heart is breaking for the families waiting to learn of their loved ones are alive. This is a tragedy. May God be with all of them.
Comment # 2 deleted, Obama derail.
Stay on topic, karim3343.
Very sad. Sounds as though the vessel was in trouble before capsizing; hopefully the crew wasable to prepare and evacuate.
The oil rig is "completely sunk" according to the rt article. Only 14/67 people found, and 2 more dead. So there's 51 people who are still on the water...
Sad news , i wish them well .
It is a real shame. Hope they find more alive.
Towing a huge rig in a bad storm with the crew on it, is that standard procedure? I'm sure it takes time to get where they are going, but it seems like money may have caused this to happen.
"There be oil in them wells", shouts the hardy mate to the Capitan.
"I know, I know", Capitan mutters to himself.
"A bit too hardy that mate, ignores the waves, currents, winds not mention ice bergs and reefs", Capitan ponders.
"Make heading to calmer seas, we need put in for repairs", Capitan commands.
"Arh, gruifs", Mate chokes back.
"It’s not the hunt for oil, the disheartens, yer mate, it all the dancing, he’s got a wooden leg", Second claims.
"So have I, So have I" Capitan, swing his piece hitting the rail.
"It’s not merriment we’re making, we need keep boys fit and not have wandering minds, these men are for acting not thinking". Capitan reminds.
"It’s our lot in life; to find the bloody oil, well in hand and pump you must to drain that last drop", Capitan look star ward.
"What sense is that?" ponders the Second.
"Well it is a deep subject, the object of it to assure that nothing is left", Capitan lifts his brow.
"Not you remember, the whale tale, where the determined Capitan, would not nothing but pursue the last whale", Capitan wearying.
"A romantic story, sought to, portray a mad Capitan, obsessed by conjuring the white whale, to blame for his lameness", Capitan breathes.
"The whole story was cover for the truth the unspoken truth, obsession, ah obsession, not the whale, and its hunters", Capitan exhales.
"Not the enterprise and it financers, not a veiled story of slavery and it root in capitalism, mankind lives for one thing, and clings more to this idea than his mother’s beasts, mankind cannot be distracted from its obsession for vanity", Capitan sighing and takes a deeper breath.
"The delusion of winning, each has the idea of winning, one idea over another, one investment over another; duels are fought in this way. The goal is always to die in full furry fighting not for the truth, but the belief", Capitan closes eyes and opens them slowly.
"What sense does that make," Second inquires.
"Those that fight for the truth do so in the hope of a better tomorrow, those who believe for the sake of believing hope to take those beliefs with them to a heavenly paradise", Capitan, grips a rope tightly, fingers redden and knuckles whiten.
"For yourself, what do you want, Capitan", Second asks.
"To go down with the ship, to escape to the place where there is no hope. We’ll make merry there, and dance on good legs, and wait for truth seekers and believers to arrive", Capitan retires.
"Four workers were killed and 49 missing"
Let me get this straight.... 4 dead, 49 "missing".... 120 miles out in frigid waters. It should read -14 rescued, 49 dead.
I am a surviving daughter of Thomas Donlon who lost his life when the Ocean Ranger capsized and sank off the coast of St. Johns , Newfoundland on February 15th 1982. Unfortunately, my father was never recovered along with 61 other men. My heart is breaking for the families waiting to learn of their loved ones are alive. This is a tragedy. May God be with all of them.