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Children's Bodies Found in Volga River Disaster

About 50 people, mostly children, discovered in interior room

By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 12, 2011 12:00 PM CDT

(Newser) – A tragic confirmation from the Russian Volga river disaster: Divers searching the sunken cruise ship discovered the bodies of about 50 people, mostly children, in one of the ship's recreation areas. The children were known to have been brought to the interior area minutes before the ship went down on Sunday. Though the disaster is thought to have killed up to 129 people, the official death toll remains at 83, with 16 of those children, Reuters reports.

Just 79 of the 208 people on board were rescued, according to authorities. Twenty-five of the passengers on the boat, which was only meant to carry 140, were not registered. Prosecutors, who have opened a criminal investigation, say the boat had engine problems and did not have a license to carry passengers when it set out. President Dmitri Medvedev has promised harsh punishment for anyone who violated transport safety rules, and called for tougher legislation.

Relatives of Faina Valiullina, a victim of cruise ship sinking, cry during her funeral outside Kazan, on the Volga River, in central Russia, Tuesday, July 12, 2011.
Relatives of Faina Valiullina, a victim of cruise ship sinking, cry during her funeral outside Kazan, on the Volga River, in central Russia, Tuesday, July 12, 2011.   (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
People throw flowers into the port of Kazan, Russia, Tuesday, July 12, 2011, on the Volga River, in central Russia.
People throw flowers into the port of Kazan, Russia, Tuesday, July 12, 2011, on the Volga River, in central Russia.   (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
Relatives of passengers aboard a shipwreck react while waiting for a fresh information at a river Station in Kazan, about 450 miles east of Moscow, Russia, July 11, 2011, on the Volga River.
Relatives of passengers aboard a shipwreck react while waiting for a fresh information at a river Station in Kazan, about 450 miles east of Moscow, Russia, July 11, 2011, on the Volga River.   (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
brawne
Jul 12, 2011 10:11 PM CDT
What a horror.  These poor women.  I wish that I could take four years away for them.  That's what it's been for me now.  Four years and I wake up now and don't think of him first thing.  People say losing a child is the worst thing that can happen to you.  Actually, it's the last thing that happens to you.  Everything after is just passing time till it stops hurting so bad and you get half a life back.  Sometimes, I think that it might not be a bad thing to be a sociopath.  None of these women are gonna get a tattoo.

 
Russia • death toll • cruise ships • cruises • Dmitry Medvedev • disaster • search and rescue • Volga River

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