54 killed in Russia trawler capsize

Moscow: At least 54 people died when a trawler with 132 people on board capsized off the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East on Thursday.

"So far, 54 bodies have been recovered, and 63 crewmembers have been rescued," a source told the TASS news agency.

Fifteen more people are still missing, the source added.

According to earlier reports, there were 78 Russian nationals on board the Dalniy Vostok trawler, as well as 54 foreign nationals from Myanmar, Ukraine, Lithuania and Vanuatu.

The trawler capsized in the Sea of Okhotsk, 330 km west of Krutogorovsky settlement in the Kamchatka region and 250 km south of the city of Magadan.

Officials said that drifting ice puncturing into the trawler might be a probable reason for the capsize.