The wreck of the ship "Bulgaria": the chronology of the fateful day. Water disasters. The verdict on "Bulgaria" as the crown of evolution
On July 26, Bulgaria was raised from the depths of the Kuibyshev reservoir near the village of Syukeyevo in the Republic of Tatarstan. The ship, which keeps a gloomy and sad memory of the terrible tragedy that occurred on July 10th.
This crash is the most major disaster transport on the river in the history of modern Russia.
A bit of the history of the ship before the tragedy
The ship was built in 1955 in Czechoslovakia. Since then, it has never been overhauled. The original name of the ship is "Ukraine".
It can be noted that sailors have one superstition: you cannot change the name of the ship, under any circumstances. However, in 2001 the ship was given a new name - "Bulgaria".
Coincidentally, the Kuibyshev reservoir was organized in 1955, when the blocking Volga was built. At that time, hundreds of villages with the remains of residential buildings remained under water.
The wreck of the Bulgaria was the same ill-fated place where this ship had already been in trouble.
This is another terrifying fact - "Bulgaria" once already sank in the same place and under similar circumstances. This was told by one of the former navigators at that time to one of the press publications. This happened in 2007. During a strong storm, the lower cockpits were flooded (water entered the premises also from open windows). At that time, the crew found a way out of the situation and did not let the ship go to the bottom.
The day of the tragedy - the wreck of the ship "Bulgaria"
July 9 is the first day of the usual cruise of "Bulgaria" along the Volga ... No one could even imagine that this trip would turn into a terrible tragedy for all of Russia.
After a safe arrival in Bolgar, on the second day (July 10, 2011), closer to dinner, at about 15 minutes after 12, the ship headed back. In total, it carried 201 passengers.
A message was received from radio operators about the deterioration of the weather. Wind gusts were assumed to be up to 18 m/s, and this is quite a tolerable normal phenomenon. However, after a while the wind began to increase and gradually turned into a storm. The ship began to roll.
As a result of increasing the inclination of the vessel, the volume of water entering the compartments of the vessel through open windows reached 125 tons per minute. In the next few seconds, the starboard roll sharply increased to 20 degrees. At about half past two the irreparable happened - the ship "Bulgaria" sank.
About technical malfunctions of the vessel
At that time, in the engine room of the vessel, as usual, machinists were working, fixing problems in one of the engines that broke down at the very beginning of the tour. This is practically a common, fearless and reparable situation for sailors.
And yet, this indicated that the "Bulgaria" was a motor ship that had long needed a major overhaul. And with all this, tickets for the next few cruises were sold out long ago, and no one was going to cancel them.
Rescue of the victims, rendering assistance
Unfortunately, two ships sailing past the sinking ship - the dry cargo ship "Arbat" and the pusher "Dunaisky 66", did not provide the "Bulgaria" and its passengers with the necessary assistance.
The first to respond to trouble was a cruise passenger ship"Arabella". In addition, the crew provided first aid to the rescued.
Captain of "Bulgaria"
Alexander Ostrovsky was the captain of the tourist ship. According to eyewitnesses, he tried to bring the ship aground, but the ship did not quite reach it.
Perhaps the captain at that time realized that the ship was suffering an imminent disaster. Although the speed was maximum, the ship did not reach the shallow depth by only 40 meters. According to the calculations of representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, in the event of the vessel being stranded, the results and consequences of the tragedy would not have been so terrible and tragic.
Captain Alexander Ostrovsky, along with many passengers, died. On the same ship was the captain's sister, who also died.
Vasily Bairashev, senior electrician of the ship, said that the captain hoped to the last to save the ship and passengers and tried to do something.
Consequences of the disaster
This happened three kilometers from the coast. terrible catastrophe moved the ship "Bulgaria". The dead - 122 people. A total of 79 passengers were rescued, 14 of them were immediately hospitalized. The rescued were taken to the city of Kazan on board another cruise ship- Arabella.
Immediately after the shipwreck, operations continued for several days to raise the "Bulgaria" from the bottom of the reservoir and to search for the bodies of the dead with the involvement of a huge amount of equipment and rescuers.
Crash investigation
In early 2013, the investigation of the criminal case on the incident with "Bulgaria" was completed.
The general director of the company, the sub-tenant of the ship, Inyakina Svetlana, subsequently received a mitigated sentence: 11 years were replaced by 9 and a half years in a penal colony.
The following defendants in this case also deserve punishment: R. Khametov (assistant to the captain of the Bulgaria) was sentenced to 6.5 years; Irek Timergazeev, head of the Kazan department of the Volga Department of the State Morrechnadzor - 6 years in prison; former head. state inspector of the same department Vladislav Semyonov - 5 years; senior expert of Rosrechregistr (Kama branch) Yakov Ivashov was released from the sentence and released right in the courtroom, having fallen under an amnesty (he was initially sentenced to 5 and a half years).
However, the prosecutor's office of the Republic of Tatarstan appealed the verdict, considering it too lenient. The state prosecution asked to change the above-mentioned Moskovsky district of Kazan and again assign more severe sentences to four defendants: Inyakina S. - 14 years 6 months, Timergazeev I. and Semenov V. - 8 years each; Ivashov Y. - 7 years in prison.
The captains of "Arbat" and "Dunaisky-66" were punished with fines in the amount of 130-190 thousand rubles.
Causes of the tragedy
The main reasons for the crash of the "Bulgaria" are the heavy wear and tear of the vessel, its overload with passengers and gross violations during operation, as well as a strong storm.
Among other things, the sub-lessees of the vessel did not have the necessary permits to use it specifically for tourist cruises.
According to the construction project, "Bulgaria" was supposed to accommodate 233 people. The ship is designed for 140 seats for passengers. There were 201 people on board that cruise. big amount children. There were also pregnant women among the passengers.
There were many reasons for this tragic outcome travels of "Bulgaria".
One of the reasons was insufficiently correct technical equipment. rescue equipment. Many of the drowned bodies recovered by divers were wearing vests. However, they never saved anyone. This means that they did not meet the necessary requirements.
There were many people in the internal premises of "Bulgaria". They didn't even make it to the deck. Everything happened very quickly. According to eyewitnesses, the ship went into the water in just two or three minutes. During such a time, there were no chances for passengers to get out of the cabins and holds.
Most importantly, the ship was technically out of order and was leaning heavily to starboard. It was this side that scooped up a large amount of water when turning, which was the main reason for the ship to go under water.
The causes of shipwrecks of this kind are always not single, but complex. The most plausible in this disaster are the above or a combination of various reasons: ship overload; technical issues; unfavorable weather; insufficient equipment with rescue equipment. All this as a whole led to a terrible disaster - the death of more than a hundred people (of which 28 were children).
Cause of death of a large number of children
All tourist ships have a special program of animators for the period of worsening weather conditions during the trip. Had her and "Bulgaria". The ship contained a play music room for such occasions. All children were invited to the party. The oldest child was 12 years old.
While the ship began to heel, the children enjoyed the performance. Frightened children screamed, called for help from their parents. Due to the fact that adults rushed to save their children, a stampede began. In such an environment, only 79 out of 201 passengers were able to escape, 28 children died.
With all this, the bodies of only seven children were found in the playroom itself. The rest were in the corridor and in other areas of the ship. They didn't have time to get out.
Rescued, Survivors
Relatively happy were those who, at the time of the tragedy, were upstairs, on the deck - they were simply washed away with water. Those who were able to stay on rafts and other objects on the surface of the water survived. Many simply held on to something. Many did not even fully realize what had happened.
Their hope for salvation increased when the Arbat and Danube-66 appeared on the horizon. Terrible - they passed by.
Witness comments from survivors
The rescued testify that the Bulgaria sank in a couple of minutes. We didn’t even have time to lower the boats, only two inflatable rafts opened up.
One of the survivors said that he was resting on the ship with his wife. At that moment, when the "Bulgaria" began to list, he grabbed his wife's hand and ran out onto the deck. Many passengers were already there. The man found and, tying him to his wife, threw her overboard. For her, he was able to send a man with two children there, and then he himself jumped into the water. They were rescued by local fishermen on boats.
Another man told how he saved a 5-year-old kid who lost his mother and grandmother, and then saved the woman as well. However, he failed to save his wife, and the pregnant one.
There are many such heartbreaking stories for every surviving passenger of "Bulgaria". And almost all of them claim that many of the crew members tried to save themselves in the first place.
The Kuibyshev reservoir witnessed a terrible tragedy that brought death to people who went on a pleasant journey. This catastrophe is the result of unforgivable irresponsibility.
Bulgaria is a project 785 river cruise double-deck diesel-electric ship (Slovak designation OL800, osobna lod 800) was built in 1955 at the Narodny Podnik Skoda Komarno shipyard (Slovenske Lodenice n.p. Komarno) in the city of Komarno (Czechoslovakia, since 1993 - Slovakia).
The length of the vessel is 80.2 meters, the width is 14 meters, the draft is 1.9 meters, the speed is 20.5 kilometers per hour, two 6NVD48 engines (diesel four-stroke compressorless reversible) with a capacity of 400 horsepower each. The ship was designed for 140 passengers, with a maximum passenger capacity of 233.
The diesel-electric ship had a class river register"O" (Inland waterways, rivers and reservoirs, the wind force limit is not more than seven points).
Initially, the ship had, in addition to one-, two- and four-bed cabins, also six- and eight-bed cabins, but during the operation of the cabin large capacity have been refurbished.
The ship had two restaurants, a bar, a music salon, an outdoor solarium, and a medical center.
During the construction of the diesel-electric ship was named "Ukraine", in February 2010 it was renamed "Bulgaria" in honor of the Volga Bulgaria.
Until 1962, the ship belonged to the Volga Shipping Company (port of registry - Gorky, now Nizhny Novgorod), then was transferred to Kamskoye river shipping company(currently - JSC "Shipping Company" Kama River Shipping Company ").
In 1986, the ship was used as a floating hotel for the liquidators and builders of the sarcophagus over the emergency Chernobyl nuclear power plant. After the work was completed, the "Ukraine" ("Bulgaria"), among other least infected ships, was returned to operation.
Until 2003, the ship was operated in Perm by various travel agencies. In 2003, the Kama River Shipping Company, according to economic reasons abandoned the use of a diesel-electric ship, and for several years it stood in the dock in mothballed form. In 2006, the ship underwent dock repairs, and in 2007 it was launched again.
Every year since 2007, the ship has had a new tenant.
In 2011, the ship was leased by Breeze LLC, which in June 2011 was subleased to the Kazan company ArgoRechTour LLC (Tatarstan).
Vessel of the Volga River Basin (including on the Kama River), performing tourist (pleasure) voyages.
The service life of diesel-electric ships of the type "Bulgaria" does not exceed 20 years, longer operation of the ship is possible only under the condition of constant repair and modernization.
On July 9, 2011, the diesel-electric ship "Bulgaria" left Kazan for the city of Bolgar for a two-day weekend cruise. The ship was listing to starboard and the starboard engine was not working. The cruise route passed through the waters of the Kuibyshev reservoir. There were 201 people on board, of which 147 were passengers.
On July 10, 2011, a thunderstorm began from squally wind, returning from Bolgar to Kazan, on the right side.
Despite the efforts of the captain and crew, the ship was unable to withstand the elements and within minutes three kilometers from the shore near the village of Syukeyevsky vzvoz of the Kamsko-Ustyinsky district of Tatarstan at a depth of 20 meters.
The motor ship did not reach the saving shoal, to which the captain led the ship, about 50 meters. They did not have time to send a distress signal from the "Bulgaria", since the radio room was almost immediately flooded.
Of the 201 people on board, only 79 survived. 122 people died, including 28 children. People in distress were afloat on rafts, surviving boats and just in the water next to them.
Some time after the crash of the ship, two cargo ships passed by the surviving passengers - the Arbat dry cargo ship and the Danube-66 pusher barge, the captains of which did not stop to help those in distress.
Those who survived after the crash of "Bulgaria" stayed in the water for about two hours, until the ship "Arabella" came to the rescue, which saved the survivors.
Immediately after the crash, a search and rescue operation began, which lasted 16 days.
On October 25, 2011, the ship "Bulgaria" as material evidence in the case of a shipwreck - to the Kama River Shipping Company. With the help of pushers, the ship was towed into shallow water near the village of Kuibyshevsky Zaton.
For failure to provide assistance to the cargo ship "Arbat" Yuri Tuchin and the tugboat "Dunaisky-66" Alexander Egorov, who, according to the court, did not provide all the necessary assistance to drowning people, being in the area of the crash of "Bulgaria", in the opinion of the court. The captains were sentenced to fines of 130,000 rubles and 190,000 rubles, respectively.
July 10, 2012 on the anniversary of the tragedy on the high bank of the Volga in the village of Syukeyevsky vzvoz of the Kamsko-Ustyinsky district of Tatarstan in memory of those killed on the ship "Bulgaria". It consists of a chapel church, a mosque and a wall of remembrance with names dead passengers and crew members "Bulgaria" on central square complex. At night, from the beginning to the end of the navigation period, the memorial is illuminated.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Seven years ago, the passenger ship "Bulgaria" sank. People had about three minutes to get out of huge ship, which quickly disappeared under the water.
July 10, 2011 cruise on the route Kazan - Bolgar - Kazan double-deck passenger ship "Bulgaria" sank on the way back. Due to overload, unprofessional crew and poor technical condition The ship killed 122 people, including 28 minors. The disaster was the largest on the Volga in terms of the number of victims in modern Russia.
Many went to Bolgar with families or noisy companies. Those who survived still blame themselves that the rest could not be saved, even if it was physically impossible.
She was pregnant
Eugene and got married on June 25, 2011, and after a couple of weeks they went on a trip. Young people knew that Leysan was 15 weeks pregnant, and they chose a name for the unborn child. The girl knew that a son would be born, but did not dare to say yet - she still wanted to make a surprise.
Young people met for exactly a year and lived together for six months. They loved each other so much that those around them said that they were like brother and sister - similar in appearance and character. They even had the same middle names - Aydarovich and Aydarovna.
There was not much money, Zhenya only recently got a job to provide for his family. We decided that we would pull a small cruise on the ship - we must please ourselves. Yes, we went with friends.
On the morning of July 9, Zhenya and Leysan flew headlong to river port: We were sure that the ship departs from the pier at 9:00. Already on the spot, they remembered that there were still 12 hours before departure, - "Bulgaria" started from Kazan in the evening. Well, what to do? I had to return. Coming back in front of the road is considered a bad omen, but who thinks about it at the age of 20?
And here it is - the evening. A number of boats lined up on the pier. They all stood proudly, upright, and struck some sort of article with theirs, or something. At some distance from them perched "Bulgaria". She seemed to be luring people, "friendly" leaning to the right. All passengers paid attention to the roll, however, no one attached any importance: well, unpleasant, but not critical ?!
Barely reached the Bulgarians. The passengers did not particularly complain: many of them are children who generally have little idea of how the ship should look like. The rest thought it was just "inconvenience" and continued to have fun. Rain and storm, of course, annoyed, but what can you do - it happens. In the end, no one expected a VIP ship for a thousand, well, a maximum of 3.5 thousand rubles paid for a ticket.
On the morning of July 10, everyone was dropped off in Bolgari and sent on an excursion. Tourists are damn tired - stuffy, a lot of walking, and many had a pretty fun evening. Therefore, upon returning aboard, many simply collapsed to rest.
Eugene was no exception, and Leysan went for a walk on the deck. She was one of the first to see the ship tip over on its side and fill with water. The girl rushed into the cabin - woke up her sleeping husband. The newlyweds grabbed hands and ran upstairs. They ran along the corridor knee-deep in water, got to the door leading to salvation, when suddenly the ship staggered, water flooded everything around.
Leysan suddenly disappeared into the stream, she just slipped out of my hands. I didn’t keep her,” Yevgeny told Life.
The young man immediately rushed after his wife: he began to dive in pitch darkness in search of his wife. Some furniture, someone's things came under the hands, and then suddenly ... a man. Grabbed by the collar, pulled out - a child, seven years old. Pushed to the exit. Once again - maybe now Leysan ?! But the pensioner looked at Zhenya. Teryoshin saved two lives. But his relatives - his wife and unborn son - remained at the bottom of the Volga.
The guy himself was carried out by an airlock from an underwater grave. A few minutes later, the Arabella picked up the passengers. When they got off it, relatives of both him and his wife were already standing on the shore. Young man taken to the hospital. Two weeks on drips, work with a psychologist from Moscow, incessant nightmares in my sleep. The latter, however, saw each other for more than a year.
The wife was buried in her mother's homeland in the village of Apastovo. Zhenya could not imagine what to do. End your life? Go and smash the hell out of the office of the travel agency that sold the tours, knowing that the ship could sink? All the time he was protected by both his parents and his wife.
Once Leysan dreamed of her mother and instructed her: “Look after him there, protect him,” Evgeny recalled.
He said more than once that, if only he had time, he tried to tell Leysan as many times as possible how he loves her.
Be late. Just be late
By the age of twenty-three, the girl graduated from the Kazan Cooperative Institute, worked in shops, in production, managed to sew, knit for herself and others. She loved to swim. So a boat trip along her beloved Volga seemed to her a wonderful option for relaxation.
Be late, well, be late." The girl came to River Station a few minutes before departure.
The ship somehow did not inspire confidence, but the guys, joking about the Titanic, moved on board. They tried not to pay attention to the fact that the ship was heeling: well, it’s true, what you do here happens.
In Bolgar, young people lagged behind the tour and risked missing the ship, but paid the taxi driver a double fee so as not to be late.
The girls were walking along the decks when they saw how the ship began to tilt too much. They rushed into the cabins, making their way through the torrents of water lashing out of the doors. The whole company rushed to the exit.
Albina grabbed the ladder, while holding her sister's hand. Suddenly, a powerful stream of water gushed out, due to which the hands unhooked. A short cry that soon disappeared underwater.
Albina could not even rush after her sister - she could not swim. Ruslan was looking for his beloved, but to no avail. Aigul never got out. Albina and Ruslan managed to escape. Ruslan then could not speak for a long time, only looked at the water, hoping that by some miracle his bride would be brought to the shore alive.
Nothing is known about how and what Albina lives now. About Ruslan, however, also a little. Judging by his page in one of the social networks, in 2012 he started dating a girl, in 2014 he got married. And just trying to move on.
Survived alone
Sirine Sharapova with 11-year-old daughter Kamila and husband Niyaz went to little trip at "Bulgaria" along with 37 other families of employees of the plant that supplies building materials for the Universiade. So the company decided to encourage people who work hard before a sporting event.
The Sharapovs just had a vacation in the Crimea, as Sirine simply did not have time to finish everything. Therefore, we decided to ride on the "Bulgaria" - at least something. In general, the 46-year-old mother of the family always thought of making a long journey on the water. The whole family swam well.
Even if something happens, we will swim out, ”she said confidently.
Niyaz, for 13 years together, got used to the fact that his wife was always active. By ship, car, train - whatever. She just did not like to fly: she was afraid to crash.
Life with her was never gray. Of course, it was not without difficulties, nothing was brought to us on a silver platter. But Sirine was wise. They could always sit down together - discuss everything and decide, - Niyaz later told Arguments and Facts.
He was in business, so it turned out that more often he could leave work to pick up his daughter from dancing, from school. Even it turned out to walk for a couple of hours and keep secrets.
We walked and talked about everything in the world. She studied well. Finished the year with a B. I was engaged in dancing, played the piano, - the man recalls.
The daughter of a woman from her first marriage - Guzel - later told how Camila was called "the future president" in the family - the girl was extremely responsible. She went to do her homework or learn the next melody herself, without reminders. But this time it was impossible to take her anywhere for the holidays, to somehow encourage her. And then the wife calls and happily announces that they are going on a boat to Bolgar for the day.
Well, at least my daughter will scatter, thought Niyaz then.
Yes, and his wife needed a rest: in Lately Constantly relatives of the dead dreamed. I could wake up several times during the night. The family thought that it was from nerves: she was very worried about work, she wanted everything to be done on time.
Thoughts that haunted the Sharapovs on their way to Bolgar: not a ship, but complete disappointment, poor food, the most simple atmosphere, the ship heels all the time. Okay, next time you can go on a normal...
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Almaz Khairetdinov from Arsk was left without parents at the age of four due to the tragedy on the Volga. Relatives only a year later decided to tell the boy that Railya's mother and Ainur's father would never return.
Sleep well, mommy and daddy, - said the child, leaving the grave.
28-year-old Ainur and Raila, who is a year younger than him, went to rest on the "Bulgaria". Ainura Ilmira's sister and her husband Albert Agliev called them on a two-day trip. At first, the men even thought of abandoning the idea: there were no cabins with a shower. But then, under the persuasion of their wives, they agreed.
They don’t remember anything special about the beginning of the trip: they didn’t pay a roll special attention, and in the evening, like many, they dined and danced. In the morning we walked around Bolgar. And upon returning, we decided to sit in the cabin of my brother and his wife. The couple were already thinking of going home when they heard: "Everyone to port!"
The Aglievs rushed to their cabin, which is next door, for life-saving equipment. Then they rushed upstairs. Raili and Ainur were not in the corridor - probably already upstairs, the spouses decided.
For some reason, a stream of water came from below - like a fountain. We jumped out on deck and swam. If it weren’t for my husband, I wouldn’t have surfaced from the capsized ship, ”admitted Ilmira, who did not know how to swim well.
They were saved in that catastrophe. But Almaz's parents remained at the bottom of the Volga.
Raili's mother screamed in my face: "Why did you swim out, why did you come back if you didn't save your brother?!" - later told MK Ilmira.
The common tragedy did not unite the family. The boy's grandmothers - - even at the wake, began to find out who would be the guardian of the child. He grew up with his father's relatives, but his maternal grandmother was not going to abandon her grandson. It was impossible to somehow agree that he would be with those and others.
The court ultimately ruled in favor of the father's relatives. The boy still lives with them. And his aunt posts pictures on social networks - here are the relatives gathered at a large table, here is Almaz during the performance of the circle, apparently, in folk dances, here the boy is training.
All the children who were left orphans after the crash of "Bulgaria" were taken under temporary guardianship: in eight cases they were taken by their grandmothers, in one - by their aunt.
The owner of the ship was the Kama River Shipping Company, and it was rented (chartered) by Agrorechtur, headed by Svetlana Inyakina. As the surviving crew members later claimed, it was Agrorechtur who gave the captain the order to let the ship out of Bolgar, despite his fears. Otherwise, he could pay with work and a wallet. In July 2014, the head of the company received 9.5 years in prison for providing services that do not meet safety requirements.
In September 2015, the media reported that Inyakina was granted an amnesty in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Victory, and her sentence was reduced by a third. Relatives of the victims of the crash called it a spit in the soul. In an interview back in 2012, she admitted that she wanted to continue doing river boats. How to be released.
The ship's chief mate, Ramil Khametov, was sentenced to 6.6 years in prison, but in 2015 the sentence was reduced to 4.7 years.
Gosmorrechnadzor officials Irek Timergazeev and Vladislav Semyonov were released in February of this year. Each of them was sentenced to more than five years in prison, but later the time spent in the pre-trial detention center was taken into account.
"Bulgaria"(Russian Bulgaria) (until 2010 - "Ukraine") - a double-deck river cruise ship, where corporate parties were sometimes held on the ship. Sunk on 10 July 2011 Kuibyshev reservoir near the village of Syukeyevo (Tatarstan) at a depth of 20 meters.
There were 201 people on board (147 passengers, 36 crew members, 18 undocumented passengers). Rescued 79 people.
Story
The ship was built in 1955 in the city of Komarno (Czechoslovakia, now - Slovakia) and belonged to the ships of project 785 "Russia". From the very beginning it was called "Ukraine". In February 2010, it was renamed "Bulgaria" in honor of the ancient state of Volga Bulgaria.
Accident
July 9, 2011 "Bulgaria" left Kazan for a cruise to the city of Bolgar along the waters of the Kuibyshev reservoir. While moving, the vessel must roll to the right side. On July 10, the ship departed for reverse direction. Three hours after departure, due to bad weather conditions, the ship sank to the bottom in a few minutes. The people who managed to get to the surface of the water were picked up by the ship "Arabella". According to preliminary data, the faulty left engine became the cause of the disaster. Immediately a criminal case was initiated under Article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - violation of the rules of traffic safety and operation of railway, air and sea transport. The investigators found out that "Bulgaria" in its last flight came out without a license. It was also found that the vessel was technically faulty and overloaded. Vessel owner - CEO OJSC "Shipping Company" Kama River Shipping Company "Valery Kirchanov - stated that the engine malfunction could not affect the safety of the ship in any way, and also that a "human factor" is possible. It was also found that the ship was de-energized, so it was impossible to signal for help.
People's memorial in the Kazan river port
Director of the Department of Information Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Voloshin said that there was no Ukrainian among the dead on the "Bulgaria".
80% of those killed on the "Bulgaria" are women and children. Many adults were found in the restaurant because it was lunchtime at the time of the disaster.
Ship lifting operation
To finance the costs associated with the rise, including design work, "Bulgaria" from the bottom of the Kuibyshev reservoir and its towing to the sludge point allocated 150 million rubles. Ship-lifting works were financed from the reserve fund of the Russian government for the prevention and liquidation of emergency situations.
On the morning of July 18, work began on lifting the vessel. The operation involved floating cranes "Mighty" and KPL-351 ("Storm") with a lifting capacity of 350 and 300 tons, respectively, an auxiliary floating crane with a lifting capacity of 10 tons, specialists from the Research Institute of Emergency Affairs and Diving Works of the Naval Academy named after N. G. Kuznetsov. In total, 918 people were involved in search and rescue operations, including 47 divers, 9 psychologists and 209 pieces of equipment, including 49 river and 15 aircraft(4 planes, 11 helicopters). During the ship-lifting operations, the ship's hull was examined and, on the second attempt (during the first attempt, the bow was torn off), raised above the water to the level upper deck. After inspection, "Bulgaria" was towed aground to the Kirelsky backwater.
As of 7 o'clock in the morning on July 25, the bodies of all those who died in the crash were found. A total of 122 dead were found, including 28 children, 72 women, 22 people. Identified (as of July 25, 2011) 119 bodies. "In connection with the identification of the bodies of all the dead" from 07/25/2011, the search operation in the water area and the adjacent territory was completed.
On July 25, the ship was put aground, work began on sealing the hull and pumping out water for dry docking at the Kuibyshev plant. After completion of investigative actions, the vessel is planned to be disposed of.
Disaster investigation
On July 12, in connection with the crash of the motor ship "Bulgaria", a criminal case was initiated against the General Director of the operator-operator of the vessel LLC "ArgoRechTour" Svetlana Inyakinoya, and the senior expert of the Kama branch of the Russian River Register, which issued the permission to operate the "Bulgaria", Yakov Ivashov.
On July 15, the Kazan Line Department of the Volga Department of State Maritime and River Supervision of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Transport also applied to the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Tatarstan with a statement on bringing ArgoRechTour LLC to administrative responsibility. The case was scheduled for trial on August 9, 2011.
On August 15, the Rostransnadzor Commission completed an investigation into the accident of the Bulgaria diesel-electric ships. The Commission concluded that a number of factors contributed to the accident. And in particular, the failure of the shipowner and the captain of the vessel to comply with the requirements of regulatory documents regulating the safety of navigation during the planning, preparation and implementation of the voyage, during which the safety of the vessel's navigation was not ensured, as well as the low qualification and indiscipline of the crew members. The materials of the investigation were transferred to the prosecutor's office.
On Sunday, July 10, in the Kuibyshev reservoir on the Volga, the cruise two-deck ship "Bulgaria" sank. The vessel, on board of which there were 188 people, including passengers and personnel, sank to the bottom in just a few minutes. The tragedy occurred near the village of Syukeyevo, Kamsko-Ustyinsky district of the Republic of Tatarstan on July 10 at about 14:00 Moscow time.
The rescue operation is still ongoing. Tuesday has been declared a day of mourning in Tatarstan.
Rescuers managed to pull to the surface so far only the bodies of nine passengers of the ship "Bulgaria" that quickly sunk in the Volga. The fate of more than a hundred people remains unknown, the Ministry of Emergency Situations says that the chances of finding survivors are extremely small. According to preliminary data, the "Bulgaria" sailed 70 people more than it should be according to the regulations.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations at 9.00, there were 199 people on board. The administration of the republic declares about 196 passengers. Among the passengers (the list is posted on the website of the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations) 59 children.
According to the latest data, 79 people were saved: “50 passengers were saved, 23 people out of 33 crew members were saved, 6 people out of 18 unregistered passengers (not traveling on a package tour) were saved.”
"Bulgaria" overturned 30 kilometers from Kazan, in the Kamsko-Ustyinsky district. Official reasons have not yet been named. It is known that the weather on the Volga was bad: a strong gusty wind was blowing, there was a thunderstorm. The balance of the ship could not keep due to overload. According to Panshin, according to the technical regulations, no more than 120 people, including crew members, could be on board the Bulgaria.
Most of the rescued were taken on board by the Arabella motor ship passing by. Its captain informed the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic about the state of emergency, and in the evening the ship delivered the rescued to Kazan.
Passengers told reporters that two ships sailed past them before the Arabella, but not one stopped, and from the sides, drowning people saw people filming them on Cell phones passengers.
The fate of more than 100 people remains unknown. The chances of finding survivors are getting smaller. The work of divers is complicated by the weather. In addition, fuel is leaking from the vessel's tanks, and rescuers cannot spend a long time in the water.
Additional lighting equipment has been installed at the crash site of the ship "Bulgaria", divers are inspecting the ship. Based on the results of the examination, the chances of finding the living are minimal, ”ITAR-TASS quotes a representative of the Ministry of Emergencies. The agency told RIA Novosti that divers saw "a lot of corpses" in one of the rooms. Panshin adds that at the time of the disaster, a musical performance was taking place in one of the halls of Bulgaria. 50 children could watch it.
"Bulgaria" is a rather old ship, its design does not provide for equipping the hold with watertight bulkheads. It was built in 1955 in Czechoslovakia.
The Ministry of Transport has already stated that the ship was tested on June 15, 2011 and was recognized as technically fit. However, the Rossiya 24 TV channel reported that there were only two 20-seat life rafts on the Bulgaria, and not four, as required by the regulations.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation disseminated information according to which the ship left the port of Kazan with a faulty engine. On the fact of the incident, a criminal case was initiated under the article "violation of the rules for the safety of the operation of ships."
About 50 children were trapped in the ship's music room. At that moment, when the wave hit the side, many guys fell on the floor, the ship tilted.
View from afar.
Passengers of the ship "Bulgaria" said that several emergency exits were closed or closed. Because of this, people could not get out of interior spaces on deck.
It is difficult to judge whether this damage is serious, but one thing is clear - the ship was far from being in perfect condition.
Without passengers
Lifetime photos of the Bulgaria diesel-electric ship that sank on July 10 with about 200 people on board make it clear that the ship went on voyages with a roll to starboard. "Bulgaria" on the pier.
And finally - a very revealing comment - a tourist review dated July 5 (and no one "noticed" this):
The old galosh, pompously called "Bulgaria", according to all the rules, should not be allowed at all passenger traffic. On July 3, he was returning from a cruise flight on the route Kazan - Perm - Kazan. During the flight, the engine stalled three times. Last time a hundred meters to the quay wall of the Kazan port. When the engine was turned off, the power supply system was de-energized. So, even the radio communication did not work (the question is, where are the emergency batteries?!). Departure for this ill-fated flight was delayed for a week, until they collected money for vouchers in order to patch up technical flaws at their expense. As a result, there was not enough money to feed the tourists. There wasn't even enough bread. While the ship was standing in the lock of the hydroelectric power station (Tchaikovsky), the sailors of the team ran for bread. on board as drinking water passengers drank outboard Volga (Kama). The speed of movement of this old galosh turned out to be such that every time she arrived at the port several hours late. Because of this, excursions were reduced or canceled altogether. But the owners of this vessel, not wanting to lose their profits, have already sold tickets for the next flight. In order to have time to return to the port of Kazan, the planned and promised excursions to passengers in Tchaikovsky, Sarapul, green parking were canceled. Despite the fact that the passengers on this flight were disabled people and pensioners - people who saved up money for this trip all year. They asked the captain (who, by the way, never went out to the public during the entire flight) not to deprive them of the promised excursions. But he was adamant and did the will of the huckster-hostess, making up for being late. But there is justice in the world! And 100 meters before the pier, the engine stalled once again. So I had to supply power from the tug to lift the anchor. And with two tugboats to put Bulgaria to the mooring wall. You can not offend the innocent and profit at their expense, receiving money for services not rendered and a very unobtrusive “service”!
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