Rescuers stop searching for a boy who disappeared on the beach in Chornomorsk

Divers of the State Emergency Service in Odesa region have temporarily stopped surveying the seabed in Chornomorsk in search of Igor Andreika, who disappeared during a storm on July 28.

As explained to Intent by the State Emergency Service, the fact is that divers are now needed for another task, namely the search for the body of a man who disappeared on October 20 in the village of Kholodna Balka in the waters of the Khadzhibey estuary.

So far, 36.7 thousand square meters of the bottom and 246 thousand square meters of the surface area have been surveyed in search of the fisherman. The total area of the estuary is 112 square kilometers.

There were two fishermen in total. The body of one of them was found earlier.

As for the search for Igor Andreyko, as of October 21, rescuers have surveyed 3 million 638.4 square meters of seabed and 1,307 kilometers of coastline. The search is planned to resume as soon as the fisherman is found. Meanwhile, police continue to search for the boy.

On July 28, there was a storm in Chornomorsk, but people continued to swim, and Ihor Andreyko disappeared, and two people died on the beach that day. The mayor of Chornomorsk, Vasyl Gulyayev, said at the time that rescuers pulled 50 people out of the water that day, including 10 children.

Rescuers began searching for the boy on July 29. Due to the weather conditions - strong winds and large waves - it was impossible for the diving department to conduct search operations on July 28. Therefore, the search began in the morning. However, the boy's body was not found.

On August 15, Igor Andriyko's father announced his intention to go on a hunger strike near the local police station. He positioned the hunger strike as a protest against the inaction of the police of Chornomorsk and Odesa region and local authorities, accusing them of saying that only divers of the State Emergency Service were looking for the boy. The man said that he would perceive all attempts to prevent him as an attempt by local authorities to hide their negligence in ensuring the safety of vacationers on the beaches, as well as by the police to hide their inaction in the search. Intent then asked the head of the Chornomorsk City Council Vasyl Huliaiev and the Main Police Department in Odesa Oblast for comment, but they did not comment on the statement, and later the police announced on August 22 that the boy was wanted and the hunger strike did not take place.

Кирило Бойко