Tourists go missing in Baikal area

Baikal rescuers are preparing to start searching for 16 Moscow tourists travelling aboard two catamarans on the Snezhnaya river in the Baikal mountains (Siberia).

Chief of the rescue team Alexander Stepanov told RIA Novosti that earlier tourists had managed to get in contact by a satellite phone and said their catamarans had overturned, leaving one Moscow tourist dead.

The tragedy was caused by torrential rains in the area, which turned the mountain river into a raging torrent.

The rescuers' departure is being delayed by bad weather conditions.