Man dies after attempting to swim to Estonia border in minus ten degrees

A man has died after attempting to swim across a river connecting Russia and Estonia in minus ten temperatures. 

Estonian border guard officials detained three Sudanese illegal border crossers suffering from hypothermia near the Koidula railway border checkpoint on Jan. 15. Despite attempts at resuscitation, one of them was pronounced dead at the scene.

First, border guard officials caught two illegal border crossers, from Sudan, who were wearing thin clothes and shorts.The officials took the men to the Koidula railway border checkpoint. The men explained that they had swum across the Piusa River to get to the Estonian side and then had thrown wet clothes away. The temperature was around -10 degrees when the men attempted the crossing. 

Later, border guard officials learned that there had been three men. The third man was found a half an hour later from the same area, reports Postimees Online. He was hypothermic and unconscious. The border guard officials took him to the border guard station and started resuscitation, South Estonian prefecture border guard bureau head Tamar Tamm said.

He said that the officials managed to restore the man's pulse and breathing for a while but after an hour of resuscitation they eventually didn’t manage to save him and the emergency services had to pronounce him dead.

The health of other two men is not in danger. Officials believe the men are most likely from Sudan. An investigation is currently underway.