According to Xinhua News Agency, on February 20, a vehicle carrying eight Chinese tourists sank when the ice broke near Olkhon Island in Lake Baikal, Russia. One Chinese tourist escaped and the other seven Chinese tourists drowned.
According to CCTV news, the remains of seven victims have been found, and divers are currently planning to launch salvage operations. The Irkutsk Region Procuratorate has opened a case for investigation into this incident and will investigate the specific cause of the accident. Relevant officials will verify whether the parties involved complied with safety regulations. Crossing a frozen lake in winter is inherently dangerous, especially when the ice is unstable.
According to Red Star News, the accident occurred at around 7:30 am GMT (around 3:30 pm Beijing time). At the time of the accident, the bus was driving on the frozen surface of Lake Baikal. The ice suddenly broke, causing the vehicle to fall into the lake.
Igor Kobzev, the governor of Irkutsk Region, said through social platforms that one passenger successfully escaped and the Lake Baikal rescue team sent five rescuers to carry out search and rescue operations. Kobzev said that the vehicle fell into the ice at the ice passage to Olkhon Island, which was not open and closed to vehicles.
The local area has confirmed the identities of four tourists (including one survivor). They are a family from China, including a husband and wife, a 14-year-old child, and a female relative. The identities of the remaining four Chinese tourists are still being verified.
Mr. Chen, a staff member of the Chinese Consulate General in Irkutsk, said in a telephone interview with reporters: "According to what we have learned so far, the rescued compatriot is a man from Jiangsu Province. Currently, his health is stable. We cannot disclose other follow-up matters for the time being because they involve personal privacy."
On February 20, a Chinese tourist in Russia told a Jimu News reporter that she happened to be at the scene when the accident occurred. The accident was a local "small steel cannon" vehicle, which sank into the lake in just two or three minutes. A young man in the car opened the door at the last moment before the vehicle sank into the lake, and other tourists used ropes to pull him up from the crevasse to the ice.
According to the above-mentioned eyewitnesses, the incident occurred at a blue ice viewing spot with several ice crevasses nearby. In addition to the vehicle involved in the accident, there were several other vehicles carrying tourists nearby. When the accident occurred, most of the men in nearby vehicles went to the rescue. Among the people involved in the rescue were Chinese tourists, but the vehicle sank too fast and there was nothing that could be done. She was so frightened when she witnessed this scene that her hands and feet were weak at night.
According to Southern Metropolis Daily, a reporter who was traveling in St. Petersburg, Russia, interviewed this incident after the incident. A Chinese tourist revealed that he was planning to cancel his original trip to Lake Baikal on the 22nd and "did not dare to take risks again."
Xiao Ou (pseudonym), a Chinese tourist in St. Petersburg, told reporters that he felt very sad and scared about the accident. Affected by this, his originally planned trip to Lake Baikal from St. Petersburg to Irkutsk on February 22, local time, was to be cancelled. Xiao Ou said, "I heard that there was a rollover accident in Lake Baikal a while ago, and now there is another drowning incident of tourists. I no longer dare to take risks."
On January 28, a "small steel cannon" overturned on the ice near Olkhon Island in Lake Baikal, killing a 75-year-old Chinese female tourist and causing minor injuries to four Chinese tourists. According to Red Star News, the car did not fall directly into the icy lake at that time, but drove into an ice crevice and rolled over. Moreover, the "little steel cannon" did not have handrails and seat belts to ensure safety.
The scene of the accident on January 28
Public information shows that Olkhon Island is the largest island in Lake Baikal. It is located north of the middle of the lake, 27 kilometers away from the lake shore, covering an area of about 730 square kilometers, and is near the deepest part of the lake. Since Russia exempted China from visa last year, Lake Baikal has also become a popular destination for Chinese tourists. There are two routes around Olkhon Island, the northern route and the southern route.
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