Moscow Boat Wreck Kills 9
A motorboat loaded over capacity with sixteen revelers collided with a barge in the Moscow River over the weekend. The boat immediately began sinking, and nine people died as a result of the incident. The owner of the boat, Gennady Zinger, died in the accident. Zinger was a known party-enthusiast who had in fact received three fines so far this year for having too many passengers aboard his boat. The limit on his vessel was twelve.
Conflicting reports say the boat was out for one passenger's birthday or for a magazine's party. Zinger's delayed reaction to the position of the barge in the Moscow River is likely the cause for his collision into it, as well as tricky turns, confusing lights, and a sandbank. Boating traffic was ceased Sunday afternoon as rescuers attempted to pull up the damaged motorboat, which was positioned three meters underneath the barge. Six of the passengers were rescued, and another swam to shore on his own.
Boating accidents such as this certainly make for a complicated scenario. The owner of the boat, and therefore responsible party, died in the accident. Also in Russia over the weekend, a 13-year old girl was killed while swimming due to a speedboat striking her, and a small fishing boat sank on Friday killing two of the four crew on board.
