Two Russian sailors killed, four missing after boat capsizes in exercise

A small boat capsized during a training exercise off St. Petersburg, killing a Russian sailor and a naval cadet and leaving four other cadets missing many hours after the accident, naval officials said.

The boat, a yawl with oars and a sail, overturned in high winds late Wednesday, navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said.

Two of the eight men aboard were rescued by fishermen and hospitalized with exposure, regional emergency officials said. The bodies of a lieutenant and a cadet were found in the Gulf of Finland and sailors and emergency workers were using nine boats and a helicopter to search for the four cadets who were still missing.

Military prosecutors opened a criminal investigation on suspicion of negligence in the latest deadly accident to hit the beleaguered Russian navy, and a commission headed by the Baltic Fleet's No. 2 officer, Vice-Admiral Vasily Apanovich, was sent to St. Petersburg to investigate.

The boat, which Dygalo said was under sail when it capsized, was found 5 kilometers (3 miles) from shore.

Associated Press