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Omsk region residents paying last respects to shipwreck fatalities

Regional governor Viktor Nazarov ordered to allocate 500,000 rubles to the family of each victim
Photo ITAR-TASS/EMERCOM of Russia Head Office of Omsk regional department
Photo ITAR-TASS/EMERCOM of Russia Head Office of Omsk regional department

OMSK, August 21 (Itar-Tass) - The six people who died in the riverboat-cargo barge collision on the river Irtysh last week will be buried in western Siberia's Omsk region on Wednesday. Flags are flying at half-mast across the region as the local authorities announced August 21 the day of mourning.

Regional governor Viktor Nazarov ordered to allocate 500,000 rubles to the family of each victim. The local ministry of labor and social development is already taking applications for compensations.

On Monday, the captain of the Polesye-8 riverboat admitted his culpability. The tragedy occurred near the village of Novaya Stanitsa on August 17. The captain said he had taken his vessel into an oncoming traffic line causing a collision that claimed six lives. Some 50 people were hospitalized. Some of them are in critical condition.

The captain also admitted using alcoholic beverages. He is in custody.