Hunt for fisherman last seen drifting away on a chunk of ice in -20°C | World News

A major search has been launched after an elderly fisherman became trapped on an ice floe that broke off and floated down a freezing Russian river.

The 77-year-old, who has been pictured but not named, was last seen on a large block of ice that detached from the bank of the Yenisei River in Siberia.

He was fishing on the semi-frozen waterway near the city of Krasnoyarsk when the floe broke off.

It then started drifting northwards towards the Arctic.

He has now been missing since Saturday, in a region where the temperature drops to -20°C at night.

So far, a large-scale search by Russian police has failed to locate the missing angler.

They have now begun asking local people for their assistance in tracking him down.

The man’s partner said his mobile phone is not working.

Fishing through holes in the ice is a popular winter pastime for Russians in the coldest parts of the country.

The Yenisei at Krasnoyarsk does not freeze solid even at the chilliest times of the year due to an enormous hydroelectric plant – once the largest power plant in the world – located upstream.

Together with its tributary, the Selenga, it forms the fifth longest river system on the planet.

Ultimately, the river drains into the Arctic Ocean, around 1,250 miles north of the city.

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