A Russian fishing ship with 19 people on board sank in the Barents Sea. According to the state agency Tass, two crew members of the trawler were rescued in the morning.
The fate of 17 other people is unclear. One of the rescued said at least one fisherman had died. The dead had been washed into the sea.
The incident occurred some 300 nautical miles from the city of Murmansk on the Barents Sea. The ship, approved in 1979, gave several distress signals, it said. The cause of the sinking was reportedly possibly an icing of the trawler.
Minus 20 degrees
At the time of the sinking, there was a strong storm. Everything happened very quickly, said one survivor.
Several boats were sent to the site of the accident to search for the missing persons. The two rescued wore neoprene suits, it said. Temperatures of minus 20 degrees and colder currently prevail in northern Russia.