At least 54 dead in trawler sinking off Russia'a Far East

Rescuers were on April 2 searching freezing waters off Russia's Far East after a fishing boat sank in the Sea of Okhotsk, possibly after a collision, with the loss of at least 54 lives.
      
Some 132 people were on board the trawler Dalny Vostok when it went down at around 6:30 am on Thursday (2030 GMT on Wednesday), off the coast of Kamchatka. Sixty-three people were rescued alive. Fifteen people were still missing.
      
Surviving victims were still awaiting evacuation to hospitals after a helicopter failed to pick them up on the first attempt and had to return to base for more fuel, an emergency ministry spokeswoman said.
      
"Nine people are in a grave condition, some are unconscious and some in a state of shock," said Tatyana Yukhmanova, spokeswoman for the ministry in the Kamchatka region, which is taking part in the operation.
      
"Although they were wearing wetsuits, they suffered hypothermia because the water temperature is around zero degrees Celsius," she told AFP.
      
She said the rescue efforts would continue until nightfall at which point they would be scaled down with the search continuing with the use of projectors.
      
Those survivors in the most serious  condition were to be taken by a helicopter to Magadan, a city which lies 250 kilometres (150 miles) to the north in the sparsely populated region.
      
Others were waiting for a large depot ship with an onboard hospital to arrive.
                      
The trawler, a 5,700-ton, 104-metre long factory ship designed to carry several dozen sailors on fishing trips over several months, had a multinational crew.
      
Russian investigators said it included 78 Russian citizens, 42 Myanmar nationals, five...