Boy, 3, found unconscious on boat after watching both parents drown in lake

A three-year-old boy has been found alive after watching both his parents drown in a lake in Russia.

The child, Demid, was found in the family’s small boat, which kept moving towards the shore of Lake Khanka.

His dad Andrey Savochkin, 41, fell overboard and his mum Christina Podareva, 31, fell while trying to save him, law enforcement said.

Demid was found unconscious and suffering from hypothermia the day after the family went missing, but survived the tragedy.

A five-day search for his mum and dad ended when their bodies washed up on the shore of the lake.

Suffering from exposure and in a “serious condition”, Demid told rescuers his mum had tried to get him to switch off the boat’s outboard motor but he could not do so.

He saw his dad fall over the side of the boat, then watched as his mum got into trouble trying to save him.

Dmitry Ivanov, a family friend, said: “He saw his mother drowning, waving her arms, and shouting to him to press a button.

“As I understood, she was telling him to turn off the engine.”

The boat kept moving with his parents struggling in 17C water in the lake, which straddles the Russian border with China.

NTV reported: “Investigators believed both parents died in front of the boy’s eyes.

“He survived purely by a miracle.”

The boy was found when people at the campsite became concerned the family had not returned from a boat trip and started a search.

It was then found that the boat had run aground at the shore.

Rescuer Vitaly Vasilkov said: “I didn’t even know if he was breathing, if he was alive.

“I massaged his little legs and arms, and brushed the sand off his face and eyes.”

Surgeon Alexander Korchak, from Khanka district hospital, said: “The young patient was delivered to the hospital in a very bad state.

“His body temperature was only 33C (91.4F) degrees.”

Demid initially needed intensive care treatment and is now in a “satisfactory” condition and being looked after by his grandmother.

A huge hunt was launched for his parents but the Russian Investigative Committee said: “The bodies of a man and a woman washed ashore on Lake Khanka not too far from the place where the boat was found.

“Investigators and criminalists from the investigative directorate are working at the site.”

There were no suspicious wounds found on the bodies and their suspected caused of death is drowning.

“The father of the family lost balance and fell into the water,” reported Prime Media citing law enforcement.

“His wife tried to help him and she herself fell in the water. The victims were not wearing life vests.

“The boat continued to move until it crashed into the shore.”

The tragic mother’s friend, Irina, said: “Christina’s child was her world.”

The family, from Novy village in the Primorsky region, had been proud of their new boat which they had bought with a loan.

Police officers gave the boy a remote-controlled car as he recovered in hospital.