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| The Kolskaya was built in 1985 |
At leastfour people have died and about 50 are missing after an oil drilling rig sankin freezing seas in the Russian far east.
TheKolskaya rig was being towed some 200km (125 miles) off Sakhalin island when itcapsized in a fierce storm.
Fourteenpeople have been rescued alive but it is feared the rig overturned before therest of the 67 people on board could escape on to life rafts.
Rescueefforts have been hampered by poor weather conditions.
Helicoptersand a plane helped scour the area amid high winds and waves of up to 12ft (4m)but the search was halted as night fell.
Empty liferafts
"Accordingto reports from the scene of the rescue operation, the Kolskaya platform hassunk completely," the regional head of the emergencies ministry, TaimurazKasayev, told a news briefing.
Theaccident in temperatures of -17C at around 14:00 local time (0200 GMT) in theSea of Okhotsk happened as the rig was being towed from the eastern peninsulaof Kamchatka to Sakhalin by an icebreaker and a tug.
An unnamedregional emergencies ministry spokesman told the AFP news agency that the rig'sportholes had been "damaged by ice and waves, and water began going intothe vessel".
The crewhad been waiting to be evacuated by helicopter but the platform capsized andsank before they could get to their rescue rafts, he said.
Two out ofthe four life rafts were reportedly found with nobody on board.
Aninvestigation has been launched to decide whether any safety regulations wereviolated transporting the Kolskaya in bad weather.
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