Russian sinking leaves 9 dead, more than 100 missing

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Russian officials say nine bodies have been recovered from the Volga River after an overloaded cruise boat sank, but more than about 100 other people who were on the half-century-old vessel are still missing.

The two-deck cruise vessel was carrying 185 people 148 of them passengers going for a scenic trip on Russia's most famous river when it sank on Sunday. The boat was certified to carry a maximum of 120 people.

A spokeswoman for Russia's Emergencies Ministry, Yelena Smirnikh, said Monday that nine bodies have been found and 80 people rescued.

The boat sank in about 20 metersof water. The cause of the accident has not been determined.

Dozens of children are believed to be among the missing.

About 30 children gathered in a cockpit in the double-decker Bulgaria moments before it sank into the reservoir on the Volga River, a survivor told the Interfax news agency. Russia's Vesti 24 television quoted another survivor as saying that the boat "tilted to the right and sank within minutes."

Crew members had time to open only two lifeboats and could release only one from the ship, survivors told the Itar Tass news agency.

All aboard were believed to be Russian.

Ships refused aid: survivor

One survivor told Vesti 24 that other ships refused to come to their aid.

"Two ships did not stop, although we waved our hands," said the man in his 40s, who stood on the riverboat amid weeping passengers, some of them wrapped in towels and blankets. He held another man, who was weeping uncontrollably.

Emergency teams and divers from neighbouring regions rushed to the site of the tragedy, 750 kilometres east of Moscow.

Throughout the day, officials gave different counts of those aboard and the number of missing, but by early Monday officials in Moscow and Tatarstan agreed that the boat had held 150 passengers and 38 crew members when it got into trouble.

Popular tourist destination

The Volga, Europe's longest river, is up to 30 kilometres wide. The river is a popular tourist destination, especially in summer months. Most of Russia's largest cities are located in the Volga River basin.

The Bulgaria, built in 1955 in Czechoslovakia, belongs to a local tourism company. It was travelling to the regional capital, Kazan, from the town of Bulgar.

A tourism expert said the lack of bulkheads inside the Bulgaria made it vulnerable to breaches.

"It case of an accident these ships sink within minutes," Dmitri Voropayev, head of the Samara Travel company, told the Ria Novosti news agency.

Russia's Union of Tourism Industry said the ship had not been inspected and retrofitted for years, according to the Interfax news agency.