Summer Camp Boat Disaster Drowns 14 Kids In NW Russia
MEP: At least 14 children were killed at a Russian summer camp after their boats overturned in a storm in the Karelia region, northwest Russia on Sunday.
Russian authorities have published a preliminary list of the 14 victims’ names, with their final confirmation pending. The bodies have been flown to Moscow, where they will be identified on Monday.
Police said three boats from the summer camp capsized during a storm on Lake Syamozero, plunging 47 children and four adults into the subarctic waters. Rescuers were still recovering bodies from the lake Sunday evening. Five children were hospitalized with hypothermia and trauma wounds.
A total of 37 people from the three boats survived the incident, according to the Emergencies Ministry. Up to 350 rescuers were working at the scene.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the investigation was ordered directly by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
All of the victims of the Karelia boat disaster were children born between 2002 and 2004, who were staying at a camp, Vladimir Markin, the Investigative Committee spokesman, said.
There were no adults among the dead, he stressed, denying earlier reports that one of the instructors had died.
