This North Korean sailor has cheated death after drifting at sea for 10 hours on a piece of polystyrene in the wake of Typhoon Linlin before being spotted by a Russian ship.
The footage shows Russian sailors pulling the North Korean sailor aboard off the coast of far-eastern Russia’s Primorsky Krai region.
Video Credit: CEN/@lifedv
The name and age of the sailor were not revealed, neither was how he survived the huge waves that have been whipped up by the typhoon.
He had apparently been washed overboard after being caught in the storm, and had almost given up hope of rescue when he was spotted by the Russians.
They threw him a lifebelt on a rope, and after some struggling the exhausted man managed to grab hold of it, and was then pulled onto the boat.
It was then given hot tea in order to raise his body temperature.
Local media quoting border official said: “The Korean sailor was handed over to border guards yesterday. He will be sent home soon.”
Primorsky Territory Governor Oleg Kozhemyako introduced a state of emergency throughout the region as typhoon “Linlin” tore through the area, with many ships rushing into the safe harbours of the bays in the north of Primorsky to escape the worst of the weather.
However it seems the ship the sailor was washed overboard had not reached safety when the full force of the bad weather struck.
Online commentator ‘Yuriynektov’ said: “You’ll be lucky if they don’t shoot the poor man.”
While ‘Yello_Pukkin’ said: “Border guards, they love tea drinking so much.”
And ‘Grazl’ asked: “Where did he get polystyrene foam?”
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Story By: Elena Kalioglo, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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