Rescue for 78 year old fisherman lost in Arctic snow blizzard

The unnamed man called his family at 6pm to say he was lost after fishing on the Kolyma River near Srednekolymsk - but it was only three hours later that Kolymsky Search & Rescue Unit were alerted.

There was no further contact from the fisherman.

In subzero temperatures with high winds and blizzard conditions, two search parties were sent out including a firefighter and volunteers. 

At 4.30am rescuers from the second group found the elderly fisherman who was exhausted and couldn't answer questions he was asked. 

The search group evacuated him to hospital with a snowmobile. He is now in a 'satisfactory' condition.

Srednekolymsk is 1,485 kilometres northeast of Yakutsk, capital of the Sakha Republic.