Man stranded on island for 2 weeks found

MOSCOW, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- A 25-year-old Russian man was found after 16 days on a barren White Sea island by a rescue helicopter that wasn't looking specifically for him, officials said.

The stranded man, identified only as "Sergei," told rescuers he left Arkhangelsk by boat Oct. 1 to harvest seaweed, but the wooden vessel began leaking and sank during a storm, The Moscow Times reported Wednesday.

The Emergency Situations Ministry regional office in Arkhangelsk said the man was rescued Monday near the Solovki Archipelago, about 93 miles from the Arctic Circle.

Sergei said he swam to Malaya Sennukha, a small, stony islet in the area, where he survived on seaweed and rainwater, and fashioned a shelter of stones and a few wooden planks, the Times said.

He said he stopped looking for passing ships three days before he was rescued and was about to commit suicide when the helicopter passed overhead. When he heard it, Sergei said he stood up to wave down the aircraft.

Sergei was treated for malnutrition and hypothermia. No one had reported he was missing, the Times said.

The helicopter was searching for survivors from the sinking of a motorboat carrying a monk and a worker from a nearby monastery last week, the Times said. Officials said the monk's body was recovered Monday and the search continued for the worker.