Pleasure Boat Propellers Hack Inattentive Swimmer to Pieces in Moscow Region

The sailor whose boat propeller killed a woman on Pirogovskoe reservoir in the Moscow region, argues that his maneuver has saved the lives of other swimmers. Sergei Marchenko claims that he had no intentions to flee from the scene. According to the sailor, he would have called emergency services if he had known there was a person under the propeller of his boat “Azimut 50,” Life News reports.

Photo: Pleasure Boat Propellers Hack Inattentive Swimmer to Pieces in Moscow Region

57-year-old Marchenko has extensive experience of operating different vessels. At one time he served as a captain in the Primorsk Shipping facility and saved dozens of people from drowning. He presented his own version of the tragedy in the Moscow region reservoir.

“I moved closer to the area where people were swimming. They asked me to make a wave. I turned around, accelerated and was moving along the rope with buoys. Then the boat snapped to the right as something got into a propeller. One propeller stopped spinning. The boat was immediately turned around, “he said.

“Why did I fail to slow down? Because if I braked, I would have skidded and injured a lot of people,” said the captain.”I knew that even though I'll hit one or two, at least I will save the rest. Everyone saw that the boat was moving away from people, but could not leave.”

“Then I stopped and talked to two swimmers. I asked:”Is everything okay? Nothing happened?” They answered:”Not really. Nothing has happened.” If I knew that a girl died, I would have cast the anchor, called the transport police, State Inspection of Small Vessels, everyone!” said Marchenko. “And I would have called my captain-coach, a Hero of Russia. All my life I had served in the Navy, I have not killed a single person.”

Some details of the victim’s life (Olesya Ivanova) were revealed. She was born and raised in Pioneer village in Samara region. She graduated from college in the city of Syzran, majoring in economics. She came to Moscow over three years ago and decided to stay in the capital where she found a good job. Her mother and stepfather tried to persuade her to return home, but she refused. When they found out that Olesya was killed in an accident, they immediately left for Moscow. Once the identification procedure is over they will take her body home.

According to witnesses, Olesya called for help and tried to swim. She was shocked and did not realize that the propeller of the boat almost completely cut off her legs. “The boat drove straight through her, but Olesya continued swimming although her feet were cut off, I guess she was shocked,” Lyudmila, a witness of the accident told Komsomolskaya Pravda. “Her legs were cut up to the buttocks, to the bone.”

According to Lyudmila, dozens of people rushed to help Olesya: “For some reason they started pouring vodka on her… But she soon lost consciousness, and when the doctors came, she was gone.” Police and emergency crew came to the scene 5-10 minutes after the accident. It took ambulance 40 minutes to arrive, witnesses say.

“The beach was deserted immediately. Half an hour later there was no one there, the music was immediately turned off, as if mourning began right away,” Lyudmila said. “I left the beach after 11pm; the girl's body was still there. The rescue team was waiting for the car to transport the body, and it seemed like there were searching the water for the girl’s legs.”

Captain Marchenko was detained shortly after the tragedy. At the present time he is under investigation, Leonid Lipilin, deputy police chief of Moscow region, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta.