MOSCOW, May 11 (Itar-Tass) — The Investigation Committee /SK/ has finished the probe into the criminal case over the sinking of the Bulgaria diesel-electric ship on the Volga in July 2011, in which 122 persons died.
"The SK main investigation department finished gathering evidence in the criminal case over the sinking of the Bulgaria passenger diesel-electric ship," SK spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
He reminded that there are five defendants in the case - sub-lessee Svetlana Inyakina, senior expert of the Kama branch of the Russian River Registry Yakov Ivashov, Bulgaria's First Officer Ramil Khametov, chief of the Kazan office of the Rostransnadzor Federal Service for Supervision of Transport Irik Timergazeyev and his subordinate former chief state inspector Vladislav Semyonov.
"Inyakina is accused of the provision of services not meeting the requirements for the safety of life and health of consumers /Article 238 of Russia's Criminal Code/, violating the rules of safe operation of inland water transport /Article 263/, violation of labor protection rules /Article 143/; Ivashov is accused of illegal issue of official documents to certify the conformity of the services provided by Inyakina to the requirements for the safety of life and health of consumers /Article 238/, and abuse of officer powers motivated by selfish or person interests /Article 285/; Khametov is accused of violation the rules of safe navigation and operation of inland water transport /Article 263/, and Timergazeyev and Semyonov have been charged with misuse office powers, motivated by personal interests /Article 285/.
The SK has already brought the finalized charges against the defendants.
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.
A court sanctioned the arrest of Inyakina, Ivashov, Timergazeyev and Semyonov. Khametov is on recognizance.
The investigators have gathered sufficient evidence. At present the injured parties and their representatives are reading the materials of the case numbering over 80 volumes. There are more than 170 injured parties, Markin said.
Earlier, Kazan's Moscow district court fined captain of the Dunaisky-66 towboat Alexander Yegorov 190,000 roubles, who had sailed past the sinking Bulgaria pleasure boat without rendering assistance. On December 26, 2011, a court also fined Arbat bulk carrier captain Yuri Tushin 130,000. His ship was in close proximity to the area of the accident, too.