A Russian man survived an ordeal that claimed the lives of his brother and teenage nephew by floating on an inflatable boat in an icy sea for more than two months, authorities and reports say.
Michael Pichukin may have survived because of his 100 kg (220 lb) height, his wife says. He weighed only 50 kg when he was found on Monday, according to media reports.
Pichukin, his brother and his 15-year-old nephew left on August 9 in an inflatable catamaran from the far eastern Khabarovsk region to Sakhalin Island, transport prosecutors said.
The boat was found around 10pm on Monday when it passed a fishing boat in the Sea of Okhotsk, about 1,000km (670 miles) from its starting point and 66 days after it set sail.
A video released by prosecutors shows a bearded man in a life jacket shouting “I don't have much strength” at the fishermen. He managed to grab a rope.
The survivor was named by the RIA Novosti news agency. The bodies of his brother Sergei (49) and nephew Ilya (15) were found in the boat.
Days after the trio went missing, rescuers, helicopters and planes searched for the trio, suspected to have been carried by a boat by currents towards Kamchatka.
Pichukin's wife, Yekaterina, told RIA Novosti: “It's a kind of miracle.” He said the men took only enough food and water to last them two weeks.
“He weighed about 100 kilograms,” she said, adding that her husband probably saved most of her. Russian television reported that he had lost 50 kg.
A fishing boat brought Pichukin to the city of Magadan, where he was taken away on a stretcher, apparently conscious.
His condition is “more or less stable,” head doctor of the regional hospital Yuri Letnev told RIA Novosti, adding that he may have suffered from hypothermia.
A fishing boat recovered the bodies and an inflatable boat, which was examined by investigators.
Traffic police have launched an investigation into the breach of safety rules, raising the possibility that Pichukin could face criminal charges and face up to seven years in prison.
The Baza Telegram channel, believed to have close ties to law enforcement, cited sources saying the group had about 20 liters of water, collected rainwater and ate dry noodles and peas.
The channel reported that Pichukin told the fishermen that his nephew had died in early September, and the brothers spent about three weeks together on the boat after that.
They sat on the bed for a long time and began to get sores and his brother tried to wash himself and fell into the icy water. Pichukin revived him, but he died soon after, Basa reported.
Then Pichukin had the bodies of his brother and nephew tied to the boat. He hung their life jackets over the side of the boat in an attempt to attract attention.
The brothers were from Ulan-Ude in Siberia, but Mikhail Pichukin worked as a chauffeur for Chagall.
He had invited his brother and nephew to visit, and they planned a whale-watching cruise, the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid reported, citing relatives.
An expert questioned by RIA Novosti recalled that in 1960, four Soviet soldiers escaped for 49 days in a small boat in the Pacific Ocean discovered by the American aircraft carrier Kearsarge.
