Passenger boat with 28 on board sinks in Russia on anniversary of Bulgaria tragedy

A passenger boat with 28 people (according to other reports, there were 30 or 35 people) aboard sank in the Volga River in Kazan on the anniversary of the Bulgaria tragedy. The boat could only carry 12 passengers.

A group of people rented a boat for a birthday party. Initially, they wanted to rent the Arcadia ship with a capacity of 25 people in order to travel to the village of Verkhny Uslon and have the party there. However, on July 10, the day of the party, the Arcadia went under repairs. The lessor provided the boat for only 12 people.

The passengers agreed to board the boat even after the captain's unusual request. Prior to the journey, the captain agreed to take all the 28 people aboard, but he asked them to provide the official record only for 12 passengers.

Problems emerged already at the beginning of the journey. According to the passengers, the motor boat, which had neither life vests nor buoys on board, was clearly listed.

The vessel set sail at 10.15 and sank at 17.10 near the settlement of Arakchino.

The captain continued to assure the passengers that everything was fine, although the water was coming in as he was speaking. Ultimately, the boat listed to the port side causing the passengers to fall into the water.

Fortunately, all the passengers were rescued. Some of them swam to the barge that was nearby, while others were recovered from the water by sailors of another motor boat that was traveling by.

Most likely the boat sank due to overload and violation of operating rules. The captain and the owner of the vessel will be called into criminal account in connection with the incident.

On July 10, 2011, the sinking of the Bulgaria passenger motor boat shocked all of Russia. As many as 122 passengers, many of them children, were killed in the accident. The sinking of Bulgaria became Russia's worst maritime disaster since 1986, when the SS Admiral Nakhimov collided with a cargo ship killing 423 people. Survivors say that during the cruise, Bulgaria encountered stormy weather, and listed sharply to starboard. This was apparently compounded by the captain trying to turn the boat around, and soon water rushed into the vessel through portholes that had been opened because the ship had no air conditioning.