map by NormanEinstein (Wikimedia Commons)
On Sunday a Russian oil platform capsized between Sakhalin Island and the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Sea of Okhotsk off far eastern Russia.
The oil rig, which was manned by 67 people subcontracted by Russian oil giant Gazprom, was being towed during a storm when heavy winds toppled it into the sea.
So far Russian authorities have confirmed 16 deaths and a rescue raft with 15 people has been spotted, but it is not known how many on the raft – if any – are alive.
According to regional emergency services, the accident poses no environmental threat, since the drilling platform’s fuel stocks are sealed.
Read more on that story on CNN and BBC and check out yesterday’s video report on the accident by Russia Today below.
Meanwhile a cargo ship is lying beached on France’s Atlantic coast since Friday, leaking fuel into a giant nature preserve. The ship beached due to a storm, which raged across France, leaving some 320,000 homes without power.
More on that story in the Guardian.
