Many missing as Russian boat Bulgaria sinks on Volga

Moscow, 11 July 2011 (MIA) - More than 100 people, many of them children, are feared dead after a tourist boat sank in central Russia, BBC reports.

Dozens were rescued after the accident on the River Volga in Tatarstan, about 750km east of Moscow.

At least six deaths are confirmed, but reports say divers have seen numerous bodies inside the sunken vessel.

At least 199 passengers and crew were believed to be on the Bulgaria, which was sailing from the town of Bulgar to the regional capital, Kazan.

Hopes of finding survivors faded as rescuers worked through the night.

Bad weather, mechanical failure on the aged craft and overcrowding have all been cited as possible reasons why the boat sank.
Nearly 50 Russian divers were scouring the murky river early on Monday and Russian media reports suggested they had seen many bodies inside the sunken ship.

Igor Panshin, head of the Emergencies Ministry's Volga Regional Centre, was shown commenting on NTV: "[The divers] were tapping on the hull in hope of getting possible replies. Unfortunately, none came.

"They have now shone light into the holds and the restaurants, and they see that there are [dead bodies of] people inside."

There was little hope of finding more survivors.

The Bulgaria - a 55-year-old vessel which is believed to be owned by a local tourism company - was on a two-day cruise when it got into difficulty at about 1400 on Sunday (1000 GMT), sinking within minutes.

The 80m boat sank several kilometres from the shore near the village of Sukeyevo, about 80km south of Kazan.

One survivor described it as "a bad ship, a very old ship", which had already been listing to starboard when it set sail.

"She went under in three minutes," said the survivor, Nikolai Chernov. "There were no announcements or anything, she just listed to starboard and capsized and sank. That was it."

About 80 people survived the accident, most of them rescued by another pleasure boat that was passing nearby.

However, one survivor revealed that before they were finally rescued other ships had refused to come to their aid.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered an investigation into the incident.