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No insurance problems for Russians hurt in traffic accident in Turkey

Six Russian tourists are still in hospital in Antalya. Medics say they are in a condition of moderate gravity, two of the six are in a serious condition

MOSCOW, October 13 (Itar-Tass) —— There are no problems with insurance coverage of medical treatment for Russians who were injured in a traffic accident in Turkey, the executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, Maya Lomidze told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

“As far as we know, there are no problems with insurance,” she said. According to travel companies, the insurance coverage totaled 15,000 U.S. dollars. All the tourists are holders of ROSNO policies.

“According to latest reports, six Russian tourists are still in hospital in Antalya. Medics say they are in a condition of moderate gravity, two of the six are in a serious condition,” Lomidze said.

There were 18 Russian tourists, including five children in a bus owned by the Pegas Touristik travel company. The bus was heading for the Antalya airport when it got into a traffic accident. Twelve of the 18 tourists were not hurt and left Turkey by the flight they had tickets to.

Lomidze also said, with reference to Pegas Touristik director general Anna Podgornaya, that according to preliminary information, the traffic light was out of order. A motor car cut in front of the bus driving it to ram into a truck. In such cases, Podgornaya said, a travel company always demands that all passengers of its vehicle be taken to hospital for medical check. In this particular case, after an examination twelve tourists were taken to the airport and took off for Novosibirsk. Six persons, including the guide, had to stay in the Antalya hospital.

In the meantime, Vasily Yurchenko, the governor of the Novosibirsk Region, where the misfortunate tourists are from, has taken the situation under personal control. A special headquarters has been set up in the region to offer help to the accident victims.

The last serious traffic accident with Russian tourists in Turkey took place in early August, also in Antalya, when a bus with 15 passengers, including eight Russian nationals, overturned. Still earlier, in July, a minivan with Russian tourists got in a traffic accident in the vicinity of the resort town of Belek on the way from the airport. Ten persons, eight Russian nationals, a guide and a driver, were then hurt.

In 2010, according to the statistics from Russian insurance and travel companies, a total of 2.140 million Russians. In the eight months of 2011, about 2.1 million vacationers from Russia visited reports of Antalya and Mugla. According to the Russian consulate general in Antalya, as many as 43 Russians died and 167 were injured in traffic accidents in Turkey in this period. Local insurance companies say that about 1,200 Russian vacationers sought medical help in 2011.