On March 21, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. A fisherman drowned in Novolukoml, BELTA correspondent was informed by the press secretary of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Marina Fando. A report about a drowning person on Lake Lukomlskoye was received by the Chashniki District Department of Emergency Situations yesterday around 18:00 from a fisherman who witnessed the incident. Upon arrival, emergency rescue units found an ice hole measuring 1x1 m, near which a fishing rod and a hat were found. The distance from the shore at this point is about 250 m, the ice thickness is 10-15 cm, and the depth is 6 m. According to the eyewitness, the fisherman had been near the ice hole since 9:00 AM and fell through the ice around 17:40. The man tried to help him but could not get closer than 70 m to the drowning person due to the collapsing ice. MES personnel, together with employees of the Chashniki OSVOD (Water Rescue Service), constructed and installed a plank bridge on the ice for the safe immersion of divers and search operations. At 20:06, the drowned pensioner, born in 1940 and residing in Novolukoml, was found and recovered to the shore. The first victim of melting ice in the Vitebsk region was a six-year-old girl from Lepel district on March 6. Employees of the MES and OSVOD urge residents of the region to pay the utmost attention to safety measures when near water bodies and under no circumstances leave children unattended. -0-

BELTA