Cruise ship Bulgaria sinks in Volga River, scores feared dead
Mon, Jul 11 2011 10:41 CET
byThe Sofia Echo staff

A cruise ship has sunk in the Volga River in Russia and local authorities fear that the number of people killed in the accident could be close to 100, media reports have said.

The cruise ship Bulgaria, which had 140 passengers and 33 crew aboard, but for the moment, the vast majority remain unaccounted for, the report said.

Two bodies have been recovered but 96 people are still unaccounted for after the Bulgaria sank at 10.58am Bulgarian time in the Tatarstan region, 800 km east of Moscow. According to other reports, there might have been as many as 18 other people on board who were without tickets, and are also missing.

A helicopter and two rescue vessels are reportedly at the scene.

According to the Mail Online, the Bulgaria sank near the village of Syukeevo in the Kansko-Ustinovsky district near the region's capital, Kazan.




The ship, built in 1955 in Czechoslovakia. belongs to a local tourism company and was on its way from the town of Bulgar to the regional capital, Kazan.

A criminal investigation into the river sinking has been launched by the Russian authorities.

Terrible disaster my thoughts go out to all the people and there families.

pixi wrote:

Terrible disaster my thoughts go out to all the people and there families.

Mine to. I have to ask the question, have some of these countries neve heard of HEALTH &
SAFETY, or is it just greed and a total lack of interest towards people's lives, many of them children
If the owners of that ship knowingly allowed almost double the number of people on board above the legal limit, they should spend the rest of their lives behind bars, it is mass murder