The chain wrapped around the sailor's legs, nearly severing them.

A crewman on board a Russian billionaire’s superyacht has died after the boat’s anchor chain nearly severed both his legs.

The Bulgarian man, Toni Hristov Kolev, reportedly was caught up in the anchor chain as it was being retracted by a winch when the Ocean Victory yacht raised anchor.

Kolev, 33, died after he was rushed to Bangkok Hospital Phuket in Phuket, Thailand. He reportedly lost a great deal of blood from deep gashes caused by the force of the anchor chain and became unconscious.

The 140m superyacht was anchored in the Similan Islands National Park, north of Phuket when the incident occurred around 2pm, local time.

The yacht’s crew reportedly notified the Royal Thai Navy’s Third Naval Area Command at 2:30pm, while Kovlev was being taken by speedboat to the nearest pier. He was then transferred to an ambulance and taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Phuket police told the Phuket News that they have concluded an investigation into the event, ruling that it was an accident.

The Ocean Victory yacht is owned by Victor Rashnikov, 67, a billionaire in the Russian steel business. The yacht was built at Fincantieri shipyard in 2014 and is one of the world’s largest. Forbes lists Rashnikov as the 23rd richest man in Russia and the 403rd richest man in the world, estimating his personal wealth at $4.3 billion.

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