A van carrying Chinese tourists sank in Lake Baikal, Russia, killing eight people last Friday (20), authorities said. Only one of the tourists managed to escape from the vehicle, which was crossing the frozen lake, according to a report by the regional governor of Irkutsk, Igor Kobzev, in a publication on Telegram.
The minibus plunged into a 3-meter-wide ice crevasse, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said. The lake is 18 meters deep at the accident site. Official footage showed rescuers using underwater cameras before beginning a diving operation.
According to local media, the UAZ vehicle was traveling on ice outside an official crossing. In the area of movement there was a crack and an area with thin ice, resulting in the accident. A criminal investigation into negligence was opened. The Irkutsk tourism office said on Saturday that the bus tour was run by an unregistered operator.
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Lake Baikal is the deepest freshwater lake in the world and is one of Russia’s main tourist attractions. According to Reuters, the number of Chinese visitors to the country has soared in recent years, after Moscow and Beijing introduced a mutual visa-free regime.
In winter, the lake becomes a popular tourist destination: excursions and car routes are organized on the ice. However, ice thickness can change drastically due to wind, currents and temperature differences, as well as increasingly warm winters.
