SK chief checks progress in riverboat sinking probe

MOSCOW, August 3 (Itar-Tass) — Chairman of the Investigative Committee (SK) Alexander Bastrykin on Wednesday checked progress in the investigation into the sinking of the Bulgaria boat on July 10, SK spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass.

“Bastrykin chaired a conference in Kazan where he heard a report on the probe into the criminal cases opened in connection with the Bulgaria shipwreck. Prior to the conference, he visited the dry dock on the premises of the Kuibyshev plant where the vessel is accommodated at present. He personally checked the investigation, such as the on-going scrutiny of the motor ship, including its decks and interior,” Markin said.

SK personnel are inspecting the vessel together with leading specialists in the field of shipbuilding and navigation.

According to the spokesman, in the course of the conference, the participants generalized and analyzed the materials within the criminal cases gathered by the investigators. “The worked out a plan for further investigative actions aimed at identifying all the culprits behind the tragedy and arraigning them,” he said.

Bulgaria sank in several minutes in a thunderstorm, 3 kilometers from the bank on July 10. The tragedy claimed 122 lives. Seventy-nine passengers survived. The director general of the ArgoRechTur and the senior expert of the Kama branch of the Russian River Register (the company subordinate to the Rosmorrechflot Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport) were arrested on charges of providing the services that do not meet safety requirements.

 

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