Two dead, 51 missing as Russian oil rig sinks

 Rescuers have saved 14 of the 67 people who were on board a floating oil rig which capsized in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East, according to latest reports. Two more have been found dead.

The Kolskoe rig was being towed by an icebreaker and a tow boat to Sakhalin Island after finishing its drill mission when the disaster happened. A distress signal was sent from it on Sunday morning.

A rescue operation is underway. The Emergencies Ministry says 14 people have been saved and two found dead. Earlier it said two of the people picked up from the icy water were in a critical condition.

Nine of the people rescued have been deemed stable enough to be transported to land via helicopter for further treatment.

All workers at the rig have warm swimming suits and life vests, the rescue service says. There were also four inflatable rafts on the facility. Rescuers found two of those, but discovered nobody on board.

The search is being conducted by the two vessels which were towing the rig and a helicopter. A third ship is heading towards the wreck site, while a second helicopter is preparing to join the effort. Also a transport plane from the Russian Pacific Fleet has been sent to the location with additional rafts, which may be dropped from the air to assist anyone they manage to find.

The rig itself has completely sunk. Authorities said it had little fuel left and those supplies were in sealed tanks, so the environmental damage to the region will be minimal, if any.

Conditions at sea have been very severe lately, with waves up to six meters high and winds of 70 kilometers per hour in the area. A storm caused the rig to tip over. It damaged two of its air tanks, which gave buoyancy to the platform, which tilted it and eventually capsized.

This happened as helicopters were preparing to evacuate 53 crew members and 14 passengers from it, because staying aboard was deemed too risky in such conditions.

The incident happened 200 kilometers off Sakhalin Island.

The Kolskoe rig was built in 1985. At 70 meters long and 80 wide, it was 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.