Some 70 fishermen from N. Korea rescued off coast of Primorye while hiding from typhoon
VLADIVOSTOK. Aug 30 (Interfax) - Dozens of foreign fishermen who were affected by a storm were rescued off the coast of the Primorye Territory in the past few days.
"Some seventy foreign sailors were rescued after a typhoon. One of the injured people is a citizen of North Korea, he sustained a serious injury and is still in a district hospital. The North Korean General Consulate in Vladivostok will be working on issues relating to his return to his homeland after he received all the medical assistance he needs," the press group of the Border Guard Directorate of the Federal Security Service's Department for the Primorye Territory said.
Border guards are helping the North Korean fishermen who had to hide from the typhoon Soulik in Primorye bays and suffered shipwrecks return home. Residents of Primorye are also helping the sailors.
"Residents of Primorye, coastal populated areas often came to their assistance before the border guards arrived in remote areas. Specifically, four North Korean fishermen whose boat was washed ashore on the coast of Reineke Island by a storm were fed and warmed by locals are now on their way home in the company of border guards. Another fisherman, who was found in Livadiya, was hospitalized in a local hospital," the report said.
The fishermen whose fishing vessels are afloat are accompanied along the border line and have been returned to North Korea by themselves. Those who were taken from wrecked ships will be handed over to the neighboring side according to simplified procedures. Under the Russian legislators, sailors hurt as a result of a typhoon are not violators of the state border.
According to earlier reports, some 240 fishing vessels from North Korea and China hit from the typhoon Soulik in the bays of Nakhodka, Terneisky and Olginsky districts. Several vessels washed ashore and some North Korean fishermen needed assistance.
According to the Border Guard Directorate of the Federal Security Service's Department for the Primorye Territory, many foreign vessels have already left the Russian border space.