In a remarkable survival story, a Russian man named Mikhail Pichugin has been rescued after spending more than two months adrift in the perilous Sea of Okhotsk.
Authorities confirmed the rescue on Tuesday, noting that Pichugin was located by a fishing vessel off the Kamchatka Peninsula on Monday.
Tragically, the 46-year-old’s brother and 15-year-old nephew did not survive the ordeal. The three had set out in early August to watch whales in the Sea of Okhotsk, but their adventure took a harrowing turn when they went missing.
Despite extensive search efforts, authorities were unable to locate the trio until the rescue.
Upon rescuing Pichugin, the crew of the Angel fishing vessel discovered the bodies of his brother and nephew still in their boat. Reports indicate that the group had a limited supply of food and approximately 5.2 gallons of water when their engine failed, leaving them stranded at sea.
Pichugin only weighed around 110lbs when he was found, having lost half of his body weight, news reports said.
He did not immediately say how he had managed to survive in the Sea of Okhotsk, the coldest sea in East Asia and known for its gales, or how his brother and nephew died.
When the crew of the fishing vessel spotted the tiny inflatable boat on their radar, they initially thought it was a buoy or a piece of junk, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper said, but they turned on the spotlight to make sure and were shocked to see Pichugin.
A video released by the prosecutor’s office showed an emaciated man in a life jacket desperately shouting “Come here!” and the crew working to pull him to safety.
“I have no strength left,” he said as he was rescued.
Prosecutors said they have launched an investigation into the incident on charges of violation of safety rules that resulted in deaths.
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