170 divers continue raising dead bodies from Bulgaria ship that was built in Czechoslovakia in 1955 and has since had no major repairs. 

 

There were 205 people on board of the ship, which is now called "The Volga Titanic", although in the list of passengers there were 209 people listed. That evening, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, 88 were taken from the water (19 children, 52 women and 17 men). The swift current of the Volga river led to horrible discoveries: some dead bodies were found 100 miles away from the tragedy place. 

According to ABC, the boat sailed with a faulty left engine and lacking a license to carry tourists. In addition, it was also heavily overcrowded and included at least 25 people who never bought tickets or appeared on any registration lists, says the source. Bad weather also might have contributed to the accident. 

 

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia of the Orthodox Church Kirill, who served a liturgy for the victims of the tragedy, says that immorality is the cause of such an often accidents that take place in Russia. "If it were a single event..... But it's not. On June, 21 we mourned the innocent victims of a plane crash in Petrozavodsk. Also, there were many similar accidents", said Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. According to the Patriarch, a major role in these disasters is played by the "human factor". An old technologt was used to save money, despite there being a risk for human lives. "What is happening today is a challenge to authority, society, nation. If the leading factor is to earn as much as possible, even greater catastrophes will happen", said Kirill. 

 

A former member of the Bulgaria crew said that the ship had sunk in the same place four years ago. According to him, water had been pouring into windows during bad weather, the old sealant couldn't provide the necessary waterproofness. 

 

All the foreign and Russian media say that the sinking was due to the operator’s “incredible greed”. 

Spanish El Pais quotes Yulia Kalinina, Moskovsky Komsomolets commentator, noting the lack of responsibility and corruption as the main problem of Russia. According to Kalinina, all the crimes are not prosecuted properly, the authorities prefer to punish other criminals. "There is no need to search for traitors and poison them with polonium, or to search for the traitors who issued ten Russian spies to Americans", says the commentator. 

 

According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, of the 120 river cruise ships operating in European Russia, 50 are between 25 and 30 years old and the other 70 are older than 40 years. The Moscow Times says that 100 of Russia's 1,500 river vessels were built before 1956. 

 

Vladimir Klimenko from the State Duma's Transportation Committee notesthat the river fleet is almost entirely in private hands, which fact the state prefers to ignore, making it impossible to establish responsibility for such accidents.  

 

 

Ksenia Dja

 

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