One person was killed while eight others suffered varying degrees of injury after a tour boat capsized and sank in Russia's Dagestan republic on the afternoon (local time) of Wednesday, August 12.
The unnamed boat was taking 10 passengers on a scheduled excursion near Dagestan's Sulak Canyon when it accidentally struck a rock. The vessel capsized and sank immediately afterwards.
Seven people who were on the boat fell overboard. Six of them were safely rescued.
One passenger, identified as a 60-year-old woman, was pulled out of the river by a number of people who witnessed the capsizing. Tragically, she was already deceased by the time emergency services personnel arrived on-scene later that day.
Eight other passengers suffered injuries but have reportedly refused hospitalisation.
An official of Dagestan's public monitoring commission said in a social media post that the captain had lost control of the boat, which then caused it to crash into a rock.
The official added that boating in the area where the capsizing occurred has been temporarily suspended but provided no details as to when it will be allowed to resume.
The Investigative Committee of Russia meanwhile said that a criminal investigation has been launched to determine whether the capsizing was the result of negligence.
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