MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has offered his condolences to his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, over the death of Chinese tourists in Lake Baikal on February 20, the Russian foreign ministry said.

"Lavrov stressed that relevant Russian agencies are conducting a full-scale investigation of the incident and promised to inform Beijing about its results immediately," it said.

The minister asked to convey his words of sympathy to the families of the tourists and expressed hope that this tragic incident will not have a negative impact on the positive development of bilateral tourist exchanges.

A car carrying nine people fell through the ice of Lake Baikal near the Island of Olkhon in the Irkutsk Region, killing the driver and seven Chinese tourists. One tourist survived. Among those killed were three women of 28 years of age, a 31-year-old woman, a 40-year-old woman, a girl born in 2013, and a 27-year-old man, a source told TASS.

A criminal case was opened on grounds of crimes stipulated by Part 3 of Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (provision of services not meeting safety requirements, negligently resulting in the death of two or more persons) and Part 3 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (negligence). The ice crossing to the island of Olkhon, where the car fell through the ice, is not open, and access to the ice is prohibited.