MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th December, 2020) Russian military maritime patrol aircraft IL-38 and fishing vessels have searched 750 square kilometers (290 square miles) of the Barents Sea to locate Russia's Onega vessel that sank on Monday, a spokesperson of the emergencies ministry told Sputnik on Tuesday.
According to the ministry, the vessel capsized and sank due to ice formation. There were 19 people on board, two of them were rescued. The ministry told Sputnik on Monday that 17 others were believed to be dead. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin have offered condolences to the families of those killed.
"Over the past day, fishing vessels have examined 400 square kilometers of the water area in the zone of the accident, another 350 square kilometers [were examined] by the Il-38 aircraft of the defense ministry," the spokesperson said, adding that the efforts to locate the ship did not bring any results yet.
Another patrol aircraft An-74 with rescuers on board took off from the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk on Tuesday morning to conduct search operations in the area.
"An-74 plane departed from Krasnoyarsk at 3.44 a.m. Moscow time [00:44 GMT] to carry out search operations," the spokesperson for the emergency services told Sputnik.
So far, a total of about 200 people, four fishing vessels and nine units of equipment are involved in the search operation, and the arrival of the rescue ship Mikula to the emergency area is expected on Wednesday.
