PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, August 18 (RIA Novosti) - Nine fishermen feared missing after their boat capsized Friday morning in stormy weather in Russia's Far East are alive, rescuers said.
The fishermen were pulling out net when the boat turned over in the Sea of Okhotsk off the coast of Kamchatka Peninsula.
The boat is trapped in fishing ropes about 600 meters from the coast at a depth of five-six meters, said Vladimir Shagin, a spokesman for the local department of the Emergency Situations Ministry.
Rescuers and other fishermen are trying to free it but gale force winds of 20 meters per second and rough seas are hampering the effort, the spokesman said.
Rescuers learned about the incident from the captain of a trawler near the scene of the accident.
