Criminal negligence
July 23, 2011
Russian authorities have charged two people with criminal negligence in the aftermath of the nation's worst river accident in three decades. Meanwhile, a recovery team is struggling to lift the boat from the Volga River.
Authorities in Russia have charged two people in connection with a fatal riverboat accident that killed at least 114 people and has launched a recovery effort to lift the ill-fated vessel from the bottom of the Volga River.
Eight passengers still missing
Criminal negligence charges have been brought against Svetlana Inyakina, the general director of ArgoRechTur, the company that had leased the boat. An official with the Russian River Register, a government body charged with checking vessels, faces the same charges.
The two defendants will face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, according to Russia's Investigative Committee.
The 56-year-old boat, "The Bulgaria", sank in the Volga River just three kilometers (two miles) from the nearest shore during a storm on July 10.
The vessel was carrying 201 people at the time, well over its maximum capacity of 140 passengers. Rescuers managed to save the lives of 79 people. Eight passengers are still classified as missing.
Recovery effort
Russia's transport ministry launched an operation on Friday to lift the vessel from the Volga River. The recovery effort has faced an uphill battle due to bad visibility, snapped rigging and heavy silt on the river bed.
"There are some difficulties," Rustam Minnikhanov, the leader of the Tartarstan region where the boat sank, told the Interfax news agency.
"This situation is under control, though the work did not go at all as we expected," he said. "The problem is that the front half is heavier than the back, which is full of silt."
Russian authorities want to bring the boat to the surface in order to determine why it sank.
Author: Spencer Kimball (Reuters, AFP)
Editor: Andreas Illmer