After 67 days of drifting, a Russian was rescued, but his brother and nephew are dead

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian man was rescued in the rough Sea of ​​Okhotsk after surviving for more than two months in a tiny inflatable boat that lost its engine, but his brother and nephew died, authorities said Tuesday.

Prosecutors in Russia’s Far East said the man was rescued on Monday by a fishing vessel off the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The survivor’s name was not released, but Russian news reports identified him as 46-year-old Mikhail Pichugin, who set out on a journey to watch whales in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in early August with his 49-year-old brother and 15-year-old brother. -year-old nephew. Their bodies were reportedly found on the boat when the fishing vessel Angel rescued Pichugin.

Media reports say that in early August, the three men traveled to the Shantar Islands off the northwestern shore of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. They disappeared on August 9 on their way back to Sakhalin Island. A rescue operation was launched but they could not be located.

Russian media reported that the three had a small ration and about 20 liters (5.2 gallons) of water when their engine failed and they found themselves adrift.

According to news reports, Pichugin weighed only about 50 kilograms (110 pounds) when he was found and had lost half his body weight.

He did not immediately tell how he managed to survive in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the coldest sea in East Asia and famous for its storms, and how his brother and nephew died.

When the crew of the fishing vessel noticed a tiny pontoon on the radar, they initially thought it was a buoy or a piece of scrap, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported, but to be sure, they turned on their searchlights and were shocked to see Pichugin. .

The recording published by the prosecutor’s office shows an emaciated man in a life jacket shouting desperately “come here!” and the crew working to pull him to safety.

“I have no strength left,” Pichugin said as he was taken to safety.

Prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into the incident on suspicion of violating safety rules that resulted in death.