IRKUTSK, February 20. /TASS/. The identities of five people, including the lone surviving tourist, who were in the car that fell through the ice on Lake Baikal have been established, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Irkutsk Region told TASS.

"At the moment, we have identified five people: the driver, a 44-year-old local resident, and four tourists, including the lone survivor. The survivor is at a tourist base, investigators will question him shortly," the department stated.

The Investigative Committee for the region reported that the car with tourists departed from a tourist base in the village of Khuzhir, Olkhonsky District, towards Cape Khoboy on the ice of Lake Baikal around 3:00 p.m. local [7 a.m. GMT]. The vehicle contained the driver and eight tourists. As a result of the incident, eight people, the driver and seven passengers, lost their lives.

During the journey, the vehicle transporting the tourists fell into a three-meter-wide opening in the ice. The depth at the site of the incident, according to the Emergencies Ministry, is 18 meters. At the scene of the tragedy, the bodies of seven victims were found using underwater cameras, and a criminal case has been initiated. According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, the Chinese tourists did not arrange the excursion through tour operators but negotiated the trip directly with a local resident.