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Trial vs captain for negligence to MS Bulgaria passengers delayed

Not all of 78 witnesses suffered in the shipwreck from Tatarstan, the Ulyanovsk Region and other regions appeared in the court

KAZAN, November 21 (Itar-Tass) —— The trial against the captain of the Arbat ship, which is accused of negligence to help the passengers drowning from the Bulgaria motor ship, is delayed in Tatarstan to December 16.

The court session in the criminal case against Arbat captain Yuri Tuchin was scheduled for 10 a.m. Moscow time on Monday, secretary of the Kama-Ustinsky District Court Elmira Larina told Itar-Tass on Monday. “But not all of 78 witnesses suffered in the shipwreck from Tatarstan, the Ulyanovsk Region and other regions appeared in the court. Therefore, the judge had to postpone the trial until December 16,” she elaborated.

Tuchin is charged under Article 270 of the Criminal Code for the negligence by the captain to help people in trouble. The article envisages up to two years in prison.

The detectives found that on July 10 the Arbat captain en route on the Kuibyshev dam lake on the Volga River in the Bulgaria wreck site, noticing people drowning on life rafts, did not take all possible measures for their rescue, through there was no danger for his ship and crew. So, the Inland Water Transport Code was violated as well.

The Bulgaria passenger ship, which was built in Czechoslovakia in 1955, sank on July 10 amid a storm on the Kuibyshev dam lake near the settlement of Syukeyevo of Tatarstan’s Kama-Ustinsky district. The tragedy claimed 122 lives, including 28 children.