A passenger boat carrying 16 people collided with a barge on the Moskva River. Only 7 people survived.
      

The boat Swallow was hired to celebrate the 31st birthday of a Turkish citizen, the Russian media report. Although the boat's captain was sober, he was not following the rules of navigation. This eventually led to a collision with a fast-moving cargo barge around 1am on Sunday, 31 July. The boat was making circles around the barge, when the two vessels collided, and the boat overturned and quickly went underneath the barge.
      

The celebrating people, among whom an American Embassy officer in Moscow, were jumping into the water in an attempt to save themselves by swimming to the shore. Some were aided by savers, but only 7 people survived the crash. 2 people were reported missing, and the cranes were delivered to the crash scene, to help find them. The captain who owned the boat was killed in the accident.
      

The month of July, noted for its extremely hot weather, also remains marked by two catastrophic events on the Russian rivers. First, Bulgaria ship accident happened on July, 10 on the Volga River, taking lives of over 140 people, including children. And now an accident on the Moskva River closes July with another 9 deaths. On both occasions captains are reported to have let more people on board than was allowed. Apparently, Swallow should only have carried 12 passengers, but the captain allowed 16 people on board.

Source: LifeNews, CNN News. Image courtesy: LifeNews.
Author: Julia Shuvalova