Tragedy on Volga

July 11, 2011 9:34 AM

100 Dead, Many Children, in Boat Sinking in Russia

The double-decker Bulgaria was carrying 196 passengers on Volga River when it was caught in a storm on Sunday while sailing to the regional capital, Kazan. The Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation, amid suspicions that negligence contributed to the tragedy.

posted by mooselini (21 comments total)

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posted by Iridic at 9:39 AM on July 11, 2011

Oh, that's terrible. It's awful that so many parents should lose their children, apparently due to the circumstances of the crash and the fact that all of the kids were in one section of the ship for play-time.
posted by codacorolla at 9:50 AM on July 11, 2011

Criminal is right. 200 people on a low draft hoopty-ass river boat. all it would take is most of the passengers to seek the relative shelter of the lee side in a strong breeze to tip it over.
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 9:59 AM on July 11, 2011

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posted by helmutdog at 10:00 AM on July 11, 2011

Fuck that's horrible.

. x 100
posted by contessa at 10:04 AM on July 11, 2011

Previous post title inadvertently inappropriate...
posted by AwkwardPause at 10:47 AM on July 11, 2011

How tragic.

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posted by Sailormom at 11:15 AM on July 11, 2011

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posted by Fraxas at 12:11 PM on July 11, 2011

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posted by kinnakeet at 12:18 PM on July 11, 2011

Well, I'm sure parents and relatives of the dead are glad that Russian authorities are investigating.
posted by swift at 12:18 PM on July 11, 2011

Is there a special Metafilter word for the ironic juxtaposition of two consecutive posts on the blue? Because this current post following directly after this post would definitely qualify.

Also,

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posted by holdkris99 at 12:29 PM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Is there a special Metafilter word for the ironic juxtaposition of two consecutive posts on the blue?

Mextaposition.
posted by goethean at 12:31 PM on July 11, 2011

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posted by dismas at 12:58 PM on July 11, 2011

Mextaposition

Spicy!

but also:

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posted by LMGM at 1:18 PM on July 11, 2011

Investigators quoted by Itar-Tass news agency said that even before the boat had set sail from Bolgary to Kazan on Sunday one of its two engines had malfunctioned and the vessel had been listing.

The 80m (260ft) 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."

An accident waiting to happen.

I'd love to see the Russians get their shit together and make an effort to be a modern country instead of a corrupt, backwards, despotic cesspool, but I wouldn't bet on it.
posted by three blind mice at 1:58 PM on July 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

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posted by devonia at 2:46 PM on July 11, 2011

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posted by echolalia67 at 3:04 PM on July 11, 2011

Some passengers were so concerned by the tilt that they asked the captain to cancel the trip while docked at a port earlier Sunday, but the captain refused, Itar-Tass reported.

Damn.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:29 PM on July 11, 2011

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posted by dealing away at 11:00 PM on July 11, 2011

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posted by arcticwoman at 10:45 AM on July 12, 2011

Russian cruise ship in bad shape before sinking. "The ship was listing when the voyage began, possibly because of unemptied sewage tanks, and the port engine was malfunctioning".
posted by Nelson at 2:11 PM on July 12, 2011