At least four people died, while 14 were rescued and 49 were missing on Sunday after an oil rig capsized and sank in the icy waters of the Okhotsk Sea in Russia's far east.

The AFP reported The Kolskaya oil rig platform was being towed by a tugboat and an icebreaker from the Kamchatka peninsula towards Sakhalin island amid a storm when it capsized and subsequently sank. There were 67 people on board the oil rig.

The crew was about to be evacuated by helicopter but the platform capsized and sank before they could board their rescue rafts, regional ministry spokesman Taimuraz Kasayev told the AFP, adding the portholes were damaged by ice and waves, making way for water to go into the vessel.

It was 200 kilometres off Sakhalin when the accident occurred at 1:45am (GMT) in high winds with temperatures of -17 degrees Celsius, the AFP reported.

The sea has fully swallowed the rig by Sunday evening, but all four life rafts have been found with no one on board.

The sea tragedy was Russia's second since July this year.

Officials hope to rescue more of the oil rig crew even as strong winds and waves of up to five metres were making the rescue efforts extra difficult for the rescue team.

President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered an investigation into the disaster.

The risk of an oil spill from the platform is "minimal", emergencies ministry official Mr Kasayev said, adding, "the fuel is in air-sealed tanks, so there is no risk of a spill."