Odisha: Body of Russian engineer sent for postmortem

The body of a Russian engineer who died on a cargo ship off the Odisha coast was sent for postmortem examination on Wednesday, police said.

The ship was brought to the berth at the Paradip Port and the body of Milyakov Sergey, 51, was taken out by the police in the presence of a magistrate and port authorities, they said.

Sergey died around 4 am on Tuesday but it took so long for the body to be brought out of the ship as it was anchored in the sea, around 45 km away. Attempts to get the body by a small mechanised boat were also not successful due to high tide, they added.

Sergey was the chief engineer of the ship, MB Aldnah, which was on the way to Mumbai from Chittagong in Bangladesh via Paradip.

The body was first taken to the Paradip Port Hospital, and then sent to Kujang Government Hospital for postmortem examination, police said.

Jagastinghpur's Superintendent of Police Akileswar Singh said the preliminary investigation indicated that the Russian engineer died due to a cardiac attack.

The actual reason for the death could be known only after a postmortem examination, he said.

The Marine police station in Paradip has registered a case of unnatural death, he added.

The Russian engineer was part of a 22-member crew, which included 17 Indians, one Estonian and one Romanian. There were two other Russians in the crew as well.

Police said they have recorded the statements of all of them.

Singh said Sergey's postmortem examination would be videographed.

The body would be preserved and handed over to Russian authorities, said doctor Prahallad Panda, the medical officer of the port hospital.

The Russian Consulate General in Kolkata has been contacted regarding this, he said.

Sergey is the third Russian to be found dead in Odisha in the last two weeks. In December, two Russians -- Vladimir Bidanov and Pavel Antov, a lawmaker -- had died at a hotel in southern Odisha's Rayagada.