Russia: EMERCOM secure accident site after deadly Karelia lake tragedy

EMERCOM personnel worked at the scene of the Karelia lake tragedy, in which 15 children lost their lives, at Lake Syamozero on Sunday. Rescuers, doctors, psychologists and social workers were deployed to treat the survivors and their families.
Fifteen children drowned after three tourist vessels from a summer camp were caught in a storm on the lake in Karelia on Saturday. All the victims were staying at the Park-Hotel Syamozero summer camp located on Lake Syamozero, not far from the border with Finland. The casualty figures were reported by the Investigative Committee probing the incident.
Investigators say there were 47 children and four adults on board the vessels: two catamarans and one raft. Some of the drowned children, aged between nine and 15, were allegedly not wearing life jackets, and are all from Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed, expressing condolences to their families and friends. According to the head of EMERCOM's Karelia branch Sergei Shugaev, the group had not been registered and the hotel's manager should not have let them go out on the lake. At least four people were arrested in the meantime, among them a tour guide and the hotel's manager.
Later in the evening, an Il-76 special flight is scheduled to bring the bodies of those who have lost their lives to Moscow. Another EMERCOM plane will deploy more doctors and other emergency personnel to Karelia.