Authorities in Russia are desperately searching for a 77-year-old fisherman who was last seen stranded on a large block of ice that broke off and floated away towards the Arctic.

The missing angler, whose identity has not been disclosed, was briefly caught on video before going adrift on the giant slab of ice that detached from the bank of the Yenisei River. In Siberia on the morning of Saturday, 3rd February.

A female witness, also not named, said she saw the pensioner fishing on the semi-frozen river when part of the ice he stood on broke off.

She reported the case to police, who began an immediate search for the angler as worries grew he might not be able to survive the -20 degrees Celsius temperatures.

The Krasnoyarsk Police said in a statement obtained by Clipzilla. “The Police, with a high probability, have identified the man who could have been swept away by the river on a detached ice floe.

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“In the course of investigating the incident on the Yenisei based on eyewitness reports. Criminal investigation operatives reached out to a resident of the Sverdlovsk district in Krasnoyarsk.

“She reported that her husband, born in 1946, left for fishing early this morning in the area of the Abakan Channel and has not returned until now.

“Attempts to contact the man have been unsuccessful as his phone is inaccessible. The woman is almost certain that she recognised her husband in the video footage with the detached ice floe. Provided by eyewitnesses to the police.

“Currently, the search for the man from Krasnoyarsk is ongoing.”