Russian authorities on Sunday rescued 675 fishing enthusiasts from a sheet of ice that had broken free off the far eastern Sakhalin Island, setting them adrift.
An elaborate rescue operation lasted several hours and involved nearly 50 people, eight vessels and two helicopters, the emergencies ministry said.
“The state of those who were rescued is satisfactory, no-one needs medical help,” the ministry said. Ice fishing is wildly popular throughout Russia in the winter months with legions of keen anglers taking to frozen rivers, lakes and seas to fish through bore-holes in the ice.
