Russia: 14 children dead, 3 people detained

15 people died in an accident on a lake in the Russian region of Karelia on Sunday - 14 children from Moscow and one instructor, and the search and rescue operation has been completed, Russian officials announced, stating that three people have been detained on suspicion of not complying with safety regulations.

Two instructors and the deputy director of the hotel where the children were staying, who allegedly organized the lake cruise, have been detained.

Children and instructors from the rehabilitation camp “Park-hotel Syamozero“, who were in boats, were caught in a storm on the lake in the Pryazhinsky district of Karelia.

The boats capsized and sank. Five children were hospitalized, Sputnik reported.

The lake is located 120 kilometers east of the border with Finland. There were 47 children and four instructors in the boats.

According to initial data, the victims were children without parental care and children from poor families, aged 12 to 15, the press service of Rosturizm announced.

According to Karelia colleagues, they were wearing life jackets, but they were not registered with the Ministry of Emergency Situations. For some reason, they apparently did not know about the warning that there would be a storm, although it started on Friday. All organized tourist groups were on the shore, starting from Friday, because it was not safe to go out on the water, Rosturizm stated.

Vladimir Kucherenko, director of a local tourism agency, believes that most of the children most likely died due to prolonged exposure to cold water, where the temperature was between 8 and 10 degrees Celsius.

Experts state that shallow lakes are extremely dangerous for navigation during a storm, and that even experienced fishermen did not go out on the lake over the weekend.

A day of mourning was declared in Karelia on Monday, Tanjug reported.