Russian divers find 50 bodies on sunken boat
Source: Agencies |
July 13, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
DIVERS searching a tourist boat that sank on Sunday in Russia's Volga River discovered the bodies of some 50 people, many of them children, an Emergencies Ministry official said yesterday.
The news will deepen anguish over a disaster that tore families apart, killing up to 129 people and underscoring concerns about the negligence, corner-cutting and corruption that troubles Russia.
The official death toll rose to 83, including 16 children.
President Dmitry Medvedev, who may seek re-election next March, vowed harsh punishment for violators of transport safety rules and said tougher legislation was needed.
The Bulgaria, an aging, overcrowded riverboat on a weekend cruise, sank in minutes 3 kilometers from shore after listing onto its right side in a thunderstorm. Authorities said 79 of the 208 people on board were rescued.
One of the survivors said the boat, built in 1955, swiftly turned into a "metal coffin" after it got into difficulty.
Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman Yelena Smirnykh said divers working their way through the wreck saw the bodies when they reached a recreation area, where survivors had said some 30 children gathered shortly before the boat went down.
"By their visual estimates, the bodies of about 50 people are there. Most of them are children," Smirnykh said.
She said psychologists sent to counsel grieving relatives had also been helping some of the divers.
Emergency officials said the boat was meant for up to 140 people but was carrying 208, including 25 unregistered passengers. Most survivors were picked up by a passing riverboat after two commercial vessels passed without aiding them.
Prosecutors said the boat lacked a licence to carry passengers and had a problem with its left engine when it set out for Kazan, capital of the Tatarstan region, after taking passengers to a town downriver on Saturday.
Prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the head of the company that leased the boat, Agrorechtur, and a river transport inspector, state-run RIA news agency reported.
Medvedev declared a day of mourning, with flags flying at half mast and entertainment programs and advertising restricted on television.
The news will deepen anguish over a disaster that tore families apart, killing up to 129 people and underscoring concerns about the negligence, corner-cutting and corruption that troubles Russia.
The official death toll rose to 83, including 16 children.
President Dmitry Medvedev, who may seek re-election next March, vowed harsh punishment for violators of transport safety rules and said tougher legislation was needed.
The Bulgaria, an aging, overcrowded riverboat on a weekend cruise, sank in minutes 3 kilometers from shore after listing onto its right side in a thunderstorm. Authorities said 79 of the 208 people on board were rescued.
One of the survivors said the boat, built in 1955, swiftly turned into a "metal coffin" after it got into difficulty.
Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman Yelena Smirnykh said divers working their way through the wreck saw the bodies when they reached a recreation area, where survivors had said some 30 children gathered shortly before the boat went down.
"By their visual estimates, the bodies of about 50 people are there. Most of them are children," Smirnykh said.
She said psychologists sent to counsel grieving relatives had also been helping some of the divers.
Emergency officials said the boat was meant for up to 140 people but was carrying 208, including 25 unregistered passengers. Most survivors were picked up by a passing riverboat after two commercial vessels passed without aiding them.
Prosecutors said the boat lacked a licence to carry passengers and had a problem with its left engine when it set out for Kazan, capital of the Tatarstan region, after taking passengers to a town downriver on Saturday.
Prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the head of the company that leased the boat, Agrorechtur, and a river transport inspector, state-run RIA news agency reported.
Medvedev declared a day of mourning, with flags flying at half mast and entertainment programs and advertising restricted on television.
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