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Captain fined 190,000 roubles for sailing past the sinking Bulgaria boat

The two-deck diesel-electric ship Bulgaria sank in a thunderstorm in Kuibyshevskoye water reservoir on July 10, 2011. Of the 201 people on board, 122 died

KAZAN, February 28 (Itar-Tass) — Kazan's Moscow district court on Tuesday fined captain of the Dunaisky-66 towboat Alexander Yegorov 190,000 roubles, who had sailed past the sinking Bulgaria pleasure boat without rendering assistance, chief press office specialist Guzel Khafizova told Itar-Tass.

"Yegorov went on trial on February 6; the hearings were initially held at Tatarstan's Kamsko-Ustinsky district court, but then they were moved to Kazan, where witnesses/injured parties live," Khafizova said.

The prosecutor demanded that Yegorov be found guilty under Criminal Code Article 270 /failing to help persons in distress/ and fined 200,000 roubles.

The court denied additional re-enactment of the accident to Yegorov's lawyer, saying there were no reasons to grant the petition as it might cause psychological injury to survivors. The lawyer then asked the court to acquit the defence and drop criminal prosecution.

Yegorov pleaded not guilty, saying there were objective reasons explaining his inability to stop his vessel. The captain conveyed his condolences to the relatives of the fatalities and the victims.

The two-deck diesel-electric ship Bulgaria, built in Czechoslovakia in 1955, sank in a thunderstorm in Kuibyshevskoye water reservoir on July 10, 2011. Of the 201 people on board, 122 died. Seventy-nine survived.

Criminal cases over not rendering assistance to vessel in distress were opened against Arbat bulk carrier captain Yuri Tushin and Dunaisky-66 towboat captain Alexander Yegorov who were in close proximity to the area of the accident.

On December 26, a court fined the Arbat captain 130,000 roubles.