Russia’s Investigation Committee has detained two senior transport inspectors over the recent sinking of cruise ship that killed more than 100 people, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
The Bulgaria cruise ship sank during a storm in the Volga River in the Republic of Tatarstan on July 10, killing 122 people. There were over 200 passengers on board the heavily overloaded vessel when it went down.
Irek Timergazeev and Vladislav Semyonov, senior river fleet inspectors from Volga department of the country’s transport watchdog Rostransnadzor, allowed the AgroRechTour company to carry passengers on the Bulgaria, despite the vessel lacking the appropriate license.
“The illegal actions of the Rostransnadzor employees are directly related to their grave consequences – the death of the 122 people,” spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
Two people have already been charged over the sinking of the ship. Svetlana Inyakina, the general director of the company that rented the cruise boat, and river fleet inspector Yakov Ivashov, who certified that the Bulgaria was fit to sail, face prison terms if found guilty.