Raft, lifeboat found at site of Russian rig disaster

A raft and a lifeboat, but no people have been found on the site of the oil rig that has sunk in the Sea of Okhotsk, according to the press service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry Sakhalin region branch.

The search operation involves three ships, three helicopters and a plane.

The Kolskaya drilling rig capsized in a severe storm off Sakhalin Island’s coast on December 18th. Just 14 of the 67 people on board have been rescued.

The search teams have found 16 bodies of those who died, while the lot of 37 others remains unknown. Investigators are following up on three different leads: towing violations, the oil rig’s technical condition and bad weather conditions.