100 Dead, Many Children, in Boat Sinking in Russia
Tragically, minutes before the boat went down, the crew had separated many of the children on board from their parents, moving them into an interior play area, apparently part of the normal routine of the cruise.
But on this day it had terrifying consequences in what authorities are calling the worst river transport disaster in Russia in recent history and one of the most dismal losses of life among children in this country since terrorists seized a school in a southern region seven years ago.
Authorities now say as many as 197 people were on board when the boat sank on Sunday, including at least 59 children. In the chaotic hours, about 80 people were rescued from the water, most of them adults.
Accounts provided to Russian media by survivors and rescue officials painted a picture of tragedy that struck in a manner that disproportionately saved adults on the decks, but left little chance of escape for children in the enclosed play area.
On Monday, the first divers to examine the wreck at the bottom of the river said more than 100 bodies were inside, a rescue official told Russian news agencies. By midday Monday, authorities said 12 bodies had been brought to the surface.
Russian authorities also suggested a cause of the accident. The Investigative Committee, which is examining possible criminal misconduct, said the 56-year-old riverboat had mechanical troubles in one of two diesel engines. Survivors said the boat was listing even at port, which Russian maritime experts said that was possibly because a sewage tank was overfull.
Authorities also revealed that more people than first reported were on the boat, as the passenger manifest had been filled out haphazardly.
On the second day of the cruise on Sunday, after lunch, the children were gathered in an indoor play room for afternoon games with babysitters working for the tour company. The fate of the babysitters is still unclear, though it is likely they also went down with the ship a few minutes before 2 p.m., while many of the parents survived.
The Interfax news agency quoted one survivor saying at least 30 children were in the room. The parents went out on deck, or relaxed in their cabins, survivors said.
At this time, Captain Aleksandr Ostrovsky — whose own family happened to be aboard that day — was attempting to turn the tilting, underpowered boat in the increasingly choppy water of a dammed portion of the Volga River that forms a broad lake, called the Kuybyshev Reservoir.
As he turned, he exposed the boat’s length to waves, life.ru reported.
One washed over the deck, sweeping some of the adults into the water, and the boat tilted.
“It just tipped to the right, flipped over, and sank,” Nikolai Chernov, one of the survivors, told Russian television.
“That was it,” he said. “There was no warning, nothing.”
River cruises are a beloved summer pastime for Russians, who sometimes book rides through the country’s vast inland waterways that last for weeks. Sleeping cabins are common, as are restaurants and onboard discos.
The Volga River is crowded with boats in the summertime, including oil tankers and barges. Last year, a riverboat collided with a barge laden with sand north of Moscow. Then, all the passengers were rescued.
The boat that sank on Sunday, called the Bulgaria, was a vintage 1955 riverboat with two decks, elegant brass fixtures and a ballroom, according to archival pictures shown on NTV television news.
Large-scale accidents have sometimes led to anger at the government, especially when the country’s somewhat cavalier approach to safety has played a role. Many reacted with fury at the government’s handling of the 2004 school siege in Beslan, which ended in a violent confrontation that killed 331 people, 186 of them children.
On Sunday afternoon, President Dmitri A. Medvedev spoke with rescue officials, state television reported.
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