A Russian man has been rescued after more than two months on a small inflatable boat in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s far east.
Officials say the man, named by Russian media as Mikhail Pichugin, 46, was found by fishing boat crews about 1,000km (620 miles) from where he started in early August. It is reported that the body of his brother and his 15-year-old nephew were found in the boat.
Mr Pichugin’s wife said the three went to the sea to watch whales and took food for two weeks.
He told Russian news agency Ria Novosti that his weight was the key to his survival – he weighed 100kg (15st 10lb) when he went on the trip, and was reportedly half that when he was rescued 67 days later.
“We don’t know anything yet. We just know that he’s alive… It’s some kind of miracle!” he told a Russian agency.
He also said that their daughter was supposed to go on this terrible trip, but decided that she wanted to return home.
A helicopter search found no trace of the three after they were reported missing, according to Ria.
The boat was found on Monday floating past a fishing boat in the Sea of Okhotsk, off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, in eastern Russia, Russian media reported.
A bearded man wearing a life jacket can be seen shouting at the fishermen: “I have no more strength,” as he is taken to safety, in a video posted by the prosecutor’s office.
He was named by Ria as 46-year-old Mikhail Pichugin. The bodies of his brother Sergei, 49, and nephew Ilya, were still in the boat.
As for how he managed to survive so long in the Sea of Okhotsk – the coldest in East Asia – a representative from the far eastern branch of the Russian seafarers’ union suggested that the supply of fish may have played a part.
Nikolai Sukhanov, told Ria Novosti in such a situation that you can survive by catching fish while removing any remaining provisions from the boat.
Mr Pichugin is now recovering in hospital, where he is described as being in a “very stable” condition by doctors.
Prosecutors said they are launching a criminal investigation, as the small boat is being examined and investigators are trying to determine what happened in the incident.
It is not the first time that castaways have been found after days of missing – an expert told Ria Novosti that four Soviet soldiers survived for 49 days on a small boat in the Pacific Ocean in 1960, before being picked up by an American airline. .
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