Captain dies as Russian fishing boat sinks - official

A Russian fishing boat sank in the Barents  Sea,  its  captain died but the other 18 crewmembers are being rescued,  head of the Murmansk region fisheries authority Vladimir Sokolov said on Tuesday according to Interfax.

The   fishing  boat  Topaz,  which  belonged  to  Murmansk  company Tralflot-4,  sank for unknown reasons several hours before, Sokolov told Interfax. The Topaz had been fishing off Spitsbergen.

A boat that happened to be nearby rescued 18 of the 19 crewmembers. The captain drowned. His body was found 20 minutes after the Topaz sank.

The accident occurred near Medvezhy island, Sokolov said.

Source: Portnews