Terrifying moment elderly fisherman, 77, is seen drifting away on chunk of ice that broke into raging river in -20C

DISTRESSING footage shows the moment an elderly pensioner was thrown off a chunk of floating ice into freezing waters.

Pensioner Nikolay Tereshkov, 77, had been drifting on a chunk of ice when it crashed into a bridge support in the Yenisei River, Siberia.

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An elderly fisherman is presumed dead after being thrown into freezing waters in Siberia[/caption]

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CCTV footage shows the moment the ice floe that was carrying him crashed into a bridge and broke up[/caption]

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Police and volunteers have been searching for the fisherman but have not been able to find his body as of yet[/caption]

The ice floe shattered upon impact and the grandfather was thrown into the water.

Earlier footage had shown how the fisherman had floated downstream after the river ice where he was fishing became detached from the bank.

A major search was launched for him in Krasnoyarsk city after his wife raised the alarm when she realised his phone wasn’t working.

CCTV footage emerged today showing how the fisherman’s ice floe hit the bridge support and broke up.

Those leading the rescue mission have said that the fisherman had virtually no chance of escaping.

Night temperatures were minus 24C in Krasnoyarsk when he was lost.

Drivers have searched the river and haven’t found his body yet, although he is presumed to be dead.

More searches will be conducted on Tuesday.

A local report said: “The unfortunate fisherman simply stood on the ice floe.

“He had no chance of saving himself from the inevitable.

“Then the ice crashes into a bridge support, and the man falls into the freezing water.”

Unlike most Siberian rivers, the Yenesei river surface around Krasnoyarsk city does not freeze solid in midwinter due to a major hydroelectricity plant upstream.

The Yenisei and its tributary, the Selenga, form a 3,153 mile river system.

It is the largest river to drain into the Arctic Ocean, some 1,250 miles to the north from Krasnoyarsk city.

Further north of the river, towards the Arctic Ocean, the surface is frozen and has become a hub for ice fishing during the winter.

The news follows a long string of deaths in this part of Russia, most of which have occurred in the winter.

In 2019, 19 people were tragically killed when their bus plummeted off of a bridge into a frozen river.

Two children and the bus driver were among those killed.

And just a year later, a teenager froze to death in freezing -50C weather after his satnav led him to take a wrong turn in Siberia.

The Russian was found frozen solid after getting stuck on an abandoned road.

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Further searches for the grandfather will be carried out on Tuesday[/caption]

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Tereshkov had been marooned on a chunk of ice after ice fishing in Siberia[/caption]