Epress.am News from Armenia
More than 100 people are still missing with at least one person confirmed dead after a pleasure boat sank in Russia’s Volga River during a storm on Sunday, according to Russian officials, reports Deutsche Welle.
The ageing vessel “Bulgaria,” which was manufactured in Czechoslovakia more than a half-century ago, sank within minutes in the 20-meter-deep waters just three kilometers away from the nearest shore, Echo Moskvy radio reported.
“The captain knew that this was no weather for a cruise,” Mikhail Turkov, spokesman for the local civil defense agency, told the Russian news agency Interfax.
The boat was returning to Kazan, the capital of the semi-autonomous republic of Tartarstan, after taking passengers down river on Saturday, according to Russian news agencies.
Although 80 people had been rescued earlier in the day by a passing vessel, Russian officials had little hope that those still missing would be found alive.
“The chances of finding more survivors are very small,” Emergency Situations Ministry spokesperson Irina Andrianova said.
The ministry’s regional branch reported that 188 people had been on board the vessel, including 150 passengers.
Survivors reported that many children were on the boat when it sank.
“Practically no children made it out,” one woman told the state-run Rossiya-24 television. “There were very many children on the boat – very many.”
The news agency Interfax quoted one male survivor as saying that 30 children had gathered in a playroom near the bow minutes before the boat sank.
“I’m afraid many of them dead,” the man said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered an investigation into the sinking, according to a statement released by the Kremlin.
The investigation is likely to focus on the age and condition of the boat. The Russian news agency Itar-Tass cited the company that owned the Bulgaria as saying the vessel had passed inspections.