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13 children & 1 adult dead as tourist boat overturns in lake storm in NW Russia 13 children & 1 adult dead in summer camp boat disaster in NW Russia
(35 minutes later)
At least 13 children and one adult have drowned after three tourist vessels from a summer camp were caught in a lake storm in Karelia, northwest Russia. All the children appear to be from Moscow. At least 13 children and one adult have drowned after three tourist vessels from a summer camp were caught in a storm on a lake in Karelia, northwest Russia. All the children appear to be from Moscow.
READ MORE: At least 11 children killed in Russian tourist boat disaster LIVE UPDATESREAD MORE: At least 11 children killed in Russian tourist boat disaster LIVE UPDATES
The casualty figures were reported by the Investigative Committee probing the incident. Investigators say there were 47 children and four adults on board the vessels: two boats and one raft. The casualty figures were reported by the Investigative Committee probing the incident. Investigators say there were 47 children and four adults on board the vessels: two boats and one raft. All of them were from the Park-Hotel Syamozero summer camp located on Lake Syamozero, not far from the border with Finland.
The tourist group that got caught in the storm consisted of two boats and one raft, according to information from the Emergencies Ministry. Rescuers have managed to save 11 people so far, the ministry said in a statement. A total of 37 people from the three boats survived the incident, according to the Emergencies Ministry. 
There were 47 children and 4 adults on board the three tourist vessels, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said in a statement. The drowned children are from Moscow, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin confirmed on Twitter, expressing condolences to their families and friends.
A total of 36 people (from three boats) survived the incident, Emergencies Ministry said, adding that four people remain unaccounted for. Moscow authorities have sent rescuers, doctors, psychologists and social workers to the scene.
Those children who died in the incident “apparently had no life vests” and those who “were with life vests, managed to survive,” children’s rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov told RIA. The kids, who died in the boat disaster, were between 9 and 11 years of age, Aleksey Gavrilov, deputy head of the Committee on Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs at Karelia’s Legislative Assembly told RT.  
“Now we are trying to figure out who gave permission for the journey, if all were provided with the life vests,” Astakhov added.The children were from a summer camp “Park-Hotel Syamozero” located near the lake. One of the instructors who organized the boat trip in Karelia has been detained, Vladimir Markin, Investigative Committee spokesman, said in a statement.
Astakhov added that Russia hadn’t seen in years such a mass casualty incident in a summer children’s camp. “It is necessary to declare mourning in Karelia and Moscow,” he said. “Within the framework of a criminal investigation, a legal assessment will be given to the actions of the staff of the children's camp and other responsible parties, which send the children boating in bad weather,” he said.
“There has been a great tragedy in Karelia,” Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said. “According to the preliminary data, 10 children from Moscow have died on Lake Syamozero. Condolences to the families and friends [of the victims],” the mayor wrote on Twitter. Those children who died in the incident “apparently had no life vests” and those who “were with life vests managed to survive,” children’s rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov told RIA.
One girl reportedly managed to reach the shore of the local resort by herself. “Now we are trying to figure out who gave permission for the journey, if all were provided with the life vests,” Astakhov added.
Life.ru news portal cited a police source who talked to a 12-year-old survivor. Russia hadn’t seen such a mass casualty incident in a summer children’s camp for several years, according to the omdudsman. “It is necessary to declare mourning in Karelia and Moscow,” he said. Karelia will hold a day of mourning on June 20, authorities said.
The girl told the source that the storm caught them on Saturday, she was washed up on the shore on Sunday unconscious. When she regained consciousness, she decided to walk to a nearby village. Tatiana, a local resident, told RT that the boat trip was a bad idea because of the weather conditions.
On her way she found a boy who was in blood and was unable to move, Life.ru cited the source. The girl told the villagers what happened and they called emergency services. “The wind was mad yesterday. It’s a crime to let children for a voyage on the lake,” she said, adding that the camp was not a place she would recommend people to send their children to. According to her, instructors at the camp were regularly drunk. She also mentioned that not long ago a security officer was killed on the camp’s premises.
Moscow authorities are sending rescuers, doctors, psychologists and social workers to the scene.
The head of the Republic of Karelia, Alexander Khudilaynen, is also heading there.
Tatiana, a local resident, told RT the boat trip was a bad idea because of the weather conditions.
“The wind was mad yesterday. It’s a crime to let children for a voyage on the lake,” she said, adding that the camp was not a place she would recommend people to send their children to. According to her, instructors at the camp were regularly drunk. She also mentioned that not long ago a security officer was killed of the camp’s premises.
A mother who once sent her son to the same camp told RT that her child got gangrene during his stay in the camp. The boy had a splinter and doctors at the camp weren’t able to remove it, she said.A mother who once sent her son to the same camp told RT that her child got gangrene during his stay in the camp. The boy had a splinter and doctors at the camp weren’t able to remove it, she said.
She said there were other incidents of negligence, like when the camp instructors left a child at a nearby station and his parent had to take him back home from there, not from the camp. She said there were other incidents of negligence, such as when the camp instructors left a child at a nearby station and his parent had to take him back home from there, not from the camp.
“There was no control in the camp. Drunk camp workers once broke a boy’s leg,” she said.“There was no control in the camp. Drunk camp workers once broke a boy’s leg,” she said.
The incident was a “shock” for locals, Vita from the tourist complex Qudaamah where the rescued children were brought, told RT, adding that the surviving children are at the nearby base. The incident was a “shock” for locals, Vita, from the tourist complex Qudaamah, where the rescued children were brought, told RT, adding that the surviving children are at the nearby base.