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Dead bodies of Russian tourists killed in snowmobile crash in Italy to be taken home January 9-10

The Italian police are investigating the accident

ROSTOV-ON-DON, January 7 (Itar-Tass) —— The dead of bodies of five Russians who were killed in a snowmobile crash on Mount Cermis in north-east Italy will be taken home on January 9 or 10, a spokesman for Alfa Insurance Co, the insurer of the tourists, told Itar-Tass on Monday.

“What has happened is a big tragedy but it is impossible to have the dead bodies taken home in a shorter period,” the spokesman said. According to the spokesman, the insurer has failed to find a charter air carrier to take the dead bodies to Krasnodar, the home town of the dead, while it is permitted to take not more than three bodies aboard regular flights. “The dead will be taken to Krasnodar from Italy by a connection flight with a stopover in Moscow,” the spokesman added.

One of the two survivors, Boris Yudin, is still in hospital in the Italian city of Trento. He has a spinal column trauma. His condition has stabilized. Later in the day, medics will have a council to decide whether he might be transported to Russia.

The deadly accident took place overnight to January 5. A group of tourists from Russia’s Kransodar, members of families -- Denis and Irina Kravchenko, Yulia, Lyudmila and Boris Yudins, Vyacheslav Sleptsov and Rafilya Pshenichnaya, who is also a worker of the tourism sector, went down in the snowmobile from a mountain restaurant. The ride ended in the crash. The snowmobile slammed into a fence and flipped over into a 100-meter ditch. As many as 35 rescuers and a helicopter took part in a rescue operation that lasted for several hours. The two injured were taken to hospital in Trento by helicopter.

The Italian police are investigating the accident. Prime versions of the accident are speeding in the difficult mountain area and negligence. Another version is technical malfunction of the snowmobile. The two survivors have undergone blood tests for alcohol. Investigators however do not confirm a drunk driving version.

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