Those who capsized on a boat in Buryatia might not have noticed the boundary between ice and water

The captain of an airboat that capsized on Lake Baikal in Buryatia could accelerate and not notice the boundary between ice and water. Anatoly Akulenko, a survival expert, made this assumption in a conversation with Izvestia on May 19.

"Thawed patches have already appeared on the lake. Speed in an airboat is almost not felt the way it is in a car. That is, you can easily accelerate an airboat to unacceptable speeds and simply not notice the boundary of the transition from ice to water. <...> And if there is still a strong wind, plus overloading, it is quite easy to overturn it at this moment," he explained.

Akulenko added that the number of passengers on the ship clearly exceeded its passport capacity. He noted that in the worst case, a person may have less than an hour to stay in cold water before being rescued, but life jackets play an important role. If there were none, wet clothes could contribute to dragging the victims to the bottom.

"If you go on a tour, pay for it, and you see that the guys who organize it are doing it in violation of security, exceeding the passenger capacity of any vehicle, or committing some other violations, then think twice: is it worth it?" the expert concluded.

More is not better: an airboat with tourists capsized on Lake Baikal

The tragedy occurred at Turtle Rock, several people died.

A boat with 18 passengers on board capsized on Lake Baikal on May 19. Of these, 10 people were saved. Five passengers died. The Ministry of Emergency Situations clarified that the Sever-750 airboat overturned in the area of Turtle Rock. A criminal case has been opened under Part 3 of Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Provision of services that do not meet the requirements for the safety of life and health of consumers, resulting in the death of more than two persons by negligence").

According to the East Siberian Transport Prosecutor's Office, the boat that took a walk along the coast belongs to the tour operator Kristalny Baikal. According to its price list, the cost of excursions to the lake for one passenger reaches 16.5 thousand rubles. As a source told Izvestia, the head of the company, Maria, was a candidate for the post of Minister of Tourism of Buryatia, and her husband is the head of the administration of the Turkinskoye municipality in the region.