Two men suspected of killing friend and resorting to cannibalism after getting lost for three months on fishing trip to Siberia



Two fishermen lost in Siberia are suspected of killing and eating their friend in order to survive, it was claimed last night.

A fourth man is also missing, leading to fears that he, too, was murdered and cannibalised.

Alexander Abdullaev, 37, and Alexei Gradulenko, 35, were plucked to safety by a rescue helicopter having survived temperatures lower than minus 30C three months after embarking on their fishing trip .

Survivor: Alexander Abdullaev is one of two men suspected of resorting to cannabalism in order to survive Warmed up: Alexei Gradulenko, 35, was plucked to safety by a helicopter having survived the temperatures

But police also found the remains of one of their friends, his body so hacked to pieces that he has not been identified.

A wooden stake was found nearby close to a bloodstained jacket , reported the Siberian Times .

'We suspect, the two survivors could have killed and eaten their friend just because of hunger,' said a source.



'But both deny they have anything to do with his death. Looking at the body parts found at the spot, we clearly saw cuts. It means the body was hacked to pieces.

'Now the body parts - some human meat and part of the skull - are taken to the morgue.'

Police in Neryungri, in the remote Sakha Republic of northern Russia, say a murder probe has been launched. 'Investigators twice visited the site and removed human body parts, suggesting violent death,' it was claimed.

Dramatic survival: The pair, who survived for three months, in their rescue helicopter in November

Found: The group of four men went missing in August during their trip in the Russian Far East

The two survivors strongly deny they killed their friends, named as Viktor Komarov, 47, or Andrei Kurochkin, 44 , reported the Siberian Times .

Instead, they claimed to have left them at a deserted gold digger's house while they tried to seek help.