Russia rescues 700 fishermen from ice floes

Helicopters and rescue boats rescued 755 fishermen today who were trapped on an ice floe that had broken away from the coast of Sakhalin Island, emergency officials said.

The anglers, who were fishing off the south-eastern part of Sakhalin, had ignored continuous official warnings about the safety of the ice, officials said.

Authorities mounted a quick rescue effort in the Sea of Okhotsk involving two helicopters and a dozens of rescue boats, said Olga Shekhovtseva, a spokeswoman for the regional branch of Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry.

She said crews rescued all those stranded in Sakhalin’s Mordvinov Bay. Several dozen salvage workers participated in the rescue effort, Ms Shekhovtseva said by telephone.

In February 2007, 442 anglers were brought back to the shore in a similar rescue effort off the Sakhalin Island in Russia’s far east.