On Lake Baikal, the search continues for two fishermen missing after driving onto the ice near Shirokaya Bay. Rescuers have found the presumed site where the vehicle broke through, and items said by one man's wife to belong to her husband. A remotely operated Falcon device is now searching underwater at about 230 meters deep.
On March 2, rescuers were informed of the disappearance of two people who had gone fishing in the area of Shirokaya Bay on Lake Baikal and had not returned by the appointed time. A resident of the village of Elantsy contacted the police and reported that her husband and a friend had gone fishing on February 28 to the “Yaytso” area of Lake Baikal and had not been in touch since March 1.Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations rescue service have already identified the presumed location where the fishermen’s vehicle broke through the ice. A team of rescuers from the Nikolskoye unit of the Baikal Search and Rescue Squad of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations has now begun work at the site in the Olkhonsky District. A group of rescuers on a hovercraft “Khivus-10” set out to search for the fishermen. Upon arrival, rescuers together with police officers began search operations: they examined the shoreline and the ice surface from Cape Krestovsky to Shirokaya Bay. Eighteen kilometers from the shore, the search team discovered a fishing spot, tracks of a vehicle leading toward the shore, and nets left behind. Subsequently, it was decided to carry out a further survey, after which, two kilometers from the shoreline, rescuers found the presumed location where the vehicle broke through the ice; there were also items frozen into the ice there: a box with fishing gear, a backpack, a blanket, a mattress, and an empty canister. The ice thickness at this location is only 12 centimeters. It is likely that the car with the missing fishermen went under the ice right here. Their belongings floated to the surface. In this case, the missing fishermen had little chance of getting out of the sinking car and surviving.
Later, in order to identify the found items, police officers brought the wife of one of the missing men to the site of the operation. The woman confirmed that the items belonged to her husband. Search operations are continuing now. To detect traces of the missing fishermen underwater, a special remotely operated underwater vehicle, “Falcon,” is being used. The depth at the search site is about 230 meters.
Based on materials from the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the Irkutsk Region.