MOSCOW, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Seven bodies have been found in Lake Baikal in Russia’s Siberia after a tour bus carrying eight Chinese tourists plunged into the water when the ice broke as it crossed the frozen lake on Friday, the Russian emergency ministry said.
One of the Chinese tourists who had been on the bus managed to escape, Irkutsk regional governor Igor Kobzev said on the Telegram app, and the region’s prosecutor’s office said a criminal case had been opened over the incident.
The ministry said rescuers had conducted an inspection of the scene using an underwater camera and that diving operations were planned.
“The depth at the site of the accident is 18 metres (59 feet),” it said in a statement.
Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest freshwater lake, located north of Mongolia, is a popular destination for tourists.
Chinese tourism in Russia has soared in recent years amid closer ties between the two neighbours and the introduction of a mutual visa-free travel regime.
(Reporting by Reuters;Editing by Helen Popper)
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